


Of Snake Charming and Coffee

by Roselucksky



Category: Assassination Classroom
Genre: Angst, Fluff, M/M, Multi, OT3, Polyamory, Slow Burn, first fic, gakushuu contracts feelings, on AO3 anyways
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-26
Updated: 2020-12-28
Packaged: 2021-03-01 05:15:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 61,022
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23319712
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Roselucksky/pseuds/Roselucksky
Summary: In between the assclass time skip, right around the time our students are in high school, Gakushu finds that his academic rival, Karma, hasn't been in such high spirits lately and hasn't been interacting with him as much as he's used to. Of course Gakushu can't have that, so he decides to see if he can remedy this by... you guessed it... horrible attempts at matchmaking! He's determined to see that Karma gets together with his crush, Nagisa.As it turns out, his excellency at academics doesn't translate well in feelings at all.
Relationships: Akabane Karma/Asano Gakushuu, Akabane Karma/Asano Gakushuu/Shiota Nagisa, Akabane Karma/Shiota Nagisa, Asano Gakushuu/Shiota Nagisa
Comments: 34
Kudos: 239





	1. Matchmaking, Start!

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for coming to read! this is my first posting on ao3. I can't think of anything else to say, so i hope you enjoy!

We’re in a gap of seven years, somewhere nestled in that time frame. Class E has split up among high schools and the works, some studying abroad, some staying regional. Karma and Nagisa keep their friendship over texts, calls and video chats, while Karma and Asano keep their rivalry fresh in person. Though, as things have turned out, this distance takes a bit of a toll on Karma’s morally questionable heart. It’s noticeable, quite noticeable indeed. Though his grades never waver, some other things do.

In fact, it sort of put a damper on Asano’s mood. Their little quarrels and displays were a regular occurance in their high school life, and lately Karma simply wasn’t up to play. He spent a lot of his time texting, looking at old photos (some of which seemed to definitely be taken for blackmail), and much quicker to shut down Asano in the middle of a declaration of a competition. Rather than stand at the front of class challenging each other’s notes and whirling into an exciting debate, he would sit back and observe as Asano did the work himself. Hell, he’d even intentionally make a mistake or two, and Karma would only mention as he passed him on his way back to his seat. 

It was absolutely frustrating! He wasn’t sure what to do at all. Was the answer in digging deeper, or detaching himself? He certainly didn’t want to lose their entertaining interactions, but he wasn’t sure how others would perceive it if he were to visibly just… care. Well, specifically, his father. Even if he were no longer Principal, the guy usually would spend time prying into Asano’s business, enjoying tales as he’d pile some extra work on his desk to keep Asano busy. After another frustrating, mundane day, Asano pulls out his phone to talk with his friends, known (or formerly known) as the other members of the big 5. 

Asano: Another day, another ten cups of fucking coffee

Ren: i’m no doctor

Ren: but that’s bad, probably

Natsu: i could tell you ITS FUCKING BAD

Teppei: i still don’t know how you don’t die

Tomoya: it's simple

Tomoya: his dad is a god and so he’s. You know.

Ren: Demigod

Tomoya: that’s the word.

Asano: i will neither confirm nor deny any of these claims, but i will say today pissed me off and with the work on top of it i’m kind of ready to rip my hair out. I mean, i’m not struggling, i’m just angry and it’s irritating me on top of that.

Ren: go ahead and speak. We’re here to listen to each other and survive together.

Natsu: ugh god

Asano: You wanna get kicked Natsuhiko?

Natsu: **_n-no sir_**

Asano: good

Asano: well, today, as per usual as of late, my rival has not been up to par in these few weeks. He’s no longer challenging me and he just keeps on glancing at his phone and pictures of a former peer. You know the one, probably. 

Tomoya: Okuda?

Asano: **_No_ **

Asano: Nagisa Shiota. If i’m not mistaken, though i haven’t pulled him aside and confirmed this suspicion, he’s got some unsaid feelings getting in the way of his thoughts. I feel I must do something involving him to rekindle that rivalry or lose it entirely. As one of my few sources of entertainment, I'm against letting that happen. 

Teppei: maybe talk to him then??

Asano: but do rivals care about each other enough to do that outside of in like, confrontational ways

Ren: I'd think it would be perfectly normal? If you want, I could help you plan out what to say to him. It may not be as complicated as you think it is to figure him out.

Asano: no need. I want to sound natural, so i’ll choose my own words. 

Natsu: how about who cares about him he’s ugly

Asano: **_you look like the joker if he spent a month soaking in the swamp. Literally nobody looks worse than you do._ **

Tomoya: got em’ 

Teppei: harsh. But seriously? Do what you want Asano.

Asano: good advice everyone. Except natsu. We share similar style preferences and therefore if you diss him aesthetic wise you are also doing me a disservice.

Natsu: ...noted

Ren: anyway, for now, it's kind of late and i’ve got a nightly routine so to speak. We should all be getting to sleep. Even you, Asano.

Asano: i will be making a 12th cup of coffee. Natsu, sleep for another month. It should improve your face.

Natsu: WELL WHY DON'T YOU JUST SHOOT ME HUH GAKUSHU

Teppei: it would be an improvement tbh

Natsu: S T O P i’m FINE

Ren: asano… you have bags… bags that kind of worry me.

Ren: Natsu, i would recommend you some quality face masks for overnight use

Tomoya: nah Asano’s gotta work on distracting Karma from the gorl blues

Teppei: um

Asano: dude.

Natsu: FOOL.

Tomoya: what??

Ren: you… you know Nagisa is a boy, right? Please say sike

Tomoya: WAIT WHAT

Asano: NAGISA IS OBVIOUSLY A BOY GOOD GOD

Tomoya: THAT IS NOT OBVIOUS

Asano: YES IT FUCKING IS

Natsu: LOOL

Asano: okay. I’m. just going to focus on myself. You people educate Tomoya, i’ve got caffeine to work with.

Ren: please for the love of god use your bed and sleep

Asano: never :)

With that, Asano gets to the rest of his work for the night, finishing quickly before he brainstorms ways to approach his rival. He could figure out what to say and how to say it on his own… most definitely. Freshly brewed cup in his hand, music player connected to the radio app on his phone blaring, he steps out to the terrace attached to his bedroom to stare up at that blanket of stars and slowly crumbling moon. Suddenly, a song he’s heard Karma often blasting begins to play. How ironic. He hummed along to the foreign band’s tune, admitting to himself it was pretty amusing to listen to. As he sips and stares out off the terrace, the idea hits him.

He smiles into his coffee cup. If his hunch was right, and he could somehow set up Karma and Nagisa with each other, things would be perfect again. Karma’s rain cloud of bitter feelings would be gone, and there would be energy to compete with him again! They’d be distant lovers instead of Karma being a despaired depressing boy moping around. And in a way, that would be another victory over him for Asano. Right? 

Before he knows it, that cup is drained of his lifeblood, and he’s excited for the moment he brings the fire back to his Rival’s eyes - and admittedly, to get in touch with another lost subject of his scattered kingdom of peers. He never got to ask what that boy put his mind towards, after all. But really, this was already putting him in a better mood, even if somewhere in the back of his mind he knows it wouldn’t be so easy.

He was fine with the challenge. He awaited it eagerly, celebrating with a 13th cup.

…

The next morning at school, Asano is back to his morning routine, coffee cup number for the day reset. As usual, he’s pretty much the first in class, and Karma comes along somewhere in between. This morning, he came in with a water bottle in one hand and his phone in the other, texting a certain someone that Asano could easily predict. Karma sits in his usual spot, the seat in front of Asano. Yep, it’s Nagisa. Asano helps himself to a bit of spying, just to get an idea on the situation.

Karma: So your morning has been good, i take it?

Nagisa: Yeah! I had enough spare time to make myself some breakfast too ^^

Karma: good for you. I got myself a donut, water, and now I'm at class!

Nagisa: Karma… you should really make a healthier choice! A doughnut isn’t really focus food ><;

Karma: maaaybe

Nagisa: please? For your best friend?

Karma: you drive a hard bargain Nagisa

Karma: fiiine, i’ll pick something nutritious for lunch. How’s that? Not sure if i could make a sprint to the cafeteria and back.

Nagisa: that’s good enough ^u^

Nagisa: whoops, i’ve got about a minute until class starts… i’ll text you later, Karma!

Karma: aww, are you sure you can’t spare a bit more time? Just sneak your phone under the desk?

Nagisa: can’t, I almost got caught last time, so he’s suspicious. Gotta keep a low profile for a bit until he forgets to keep an eye on me ^^;

Karma: damn

Karma: same

Karma: so much for our training huh? Haha

Nagisa: Yeah hehe

Nagisa: but i will text you later, definitely! In fact i’ve got a bit of a surprise to show you ^v^

Karma: ohh~? What kind of surprise, my dear Nagisa~?

Nagisa: Nothing crazy!! But i think you’ll like it ^^

Karma: now you’ve got me excited

Karma: can’t wait for our next convo

Karma: later, Nagisa~

Nagisa: see you later, Karma!

With the end of that, Karma puts his phone back in his pocket, and is in his usual short lived moment of bliss. Or maybe it would last longer this time? Who knows. But Asano did note that they practically text each other like couples in long distance do, so maybe they already were…? Fuck it, no sense in making the hypothesis if you don’t test the fuck out of it.

“Texting your boyfriend again, Akabane?” Asano said, using his usual smug tone.

Karma chuckles, “I wish i could say it were true~ at least i’ve got someone i’ve got my eyes on. What, you planning to compete with me over Nagisa too?” 

“Could’ve sworn you were with the way you text him constantly. I can see that distance hits you pretty hard. Tell me, why is there a melancholy air about after you text him? Isn’t the purpose of those to cheer you up?” Asano says.

Karma turns around to give him quite the glare. “Who says it makes me in any way upset?”

Asano returns the look, answering, “Because, you don’t have the drive you used to. The center stage of class is simply not as fun solo. You’d rather spend your time sitting there, moping. What’s the real reason, if it isn’t blues over your little obsession?” 

The glare falters a moment, before he simply lets it go. “Fine, you caught me. But it isn’t quite what you think it is. In truth, i simply think… he’s gotten romantic with someone else.”

Asano hums, then says, “I see. But a hunch is different from what’s reality. Who’s stealing your thunder?” 

“Why would you want to know what I think? I’d think you’d be glad to see me in a funk.”

“I think I made my reasonings clear enough. Now, out with it.”

“How about you give me a place where we’re not being gawked at or eavesdropped on?”

Asano glances around. Everyone who had arrived within close range was staring at them. Some pretend they weren’t just intensely watching, moving on to chatting with friends, whistling, or texting. He rolls his eyes, then turns his attention back to Karma.

“Alright, how about this?” Asano says, flipping open his notepad, writing, then tearing the small page out, and handing it to Karma. 

“Ah? What’s this now? I didn’t think you were so serious.” Karma comments as he observes what’s scribbled on the paper.

“Don’t make a big deal over it, and if you give it to anyone else I'll beat you senseless.” Asano says.

“I’d like to see you try. But fine, I guess I'll bite. Better than bottling it up.” Karma says.

Asano watches him as Karma takes his phone out again to enter the number and verify. Karma lowers his phone out of Asano’s sights, and so he can’t read the message until he receives the text for himself. 

Karma: sup bastard

Asano: hi. Expected nothing less. Text me when you have real time, class starts any minute.

Karma: gotcha. Later Gakushu :-)

Asano could see Karma smirking at him. God, he wanted to say something like, “Who gave you permission?” but the teacher had just walked in. so he keeps that in mind later.

_Meanwhile, of course, in E’s group chat_

Karma: (xxx)-xxx-xxxx

Rio: who’s number omg

Karma: Asano’s phone # 

Itona: wow, well done

Karma: don’t ask me how but there it is. Feel free to spam him

Ritsu: isn’t that a bit rude?

Karma: oh dear sweet ritsu

Karma: it’s what i call fair game

Mimura: i’m gonna do it to him

Mimura: it’s an obligation

Terasaka: for once i don’t regret looking in this chat when Karma’s up to something

Karma: u better send him something stupid too

Karma: use that tiny imagination of yours

Terasaka: HEY.

Karma: yes hello

Itona: Hewwo

Terasaka: Itona no

Karma: lol

Takuya: **which one of you taught him these words**

Yukiko: You can blame me for that one;;

Kayano: and maaaaybe me a bit too

Karma: anyhow, have fun blowing Asano’s phone up. I've got class to start.

Karma: bye~

With that, Karma giggles to himself as he listens to the buzzing coming from Asano’s pocket throughout the class period. Asano glares at him every moment he gets. Karma books it the moment class is over, unable to contain his laughter as he runs from an angry as hell Asano.

“THERE ARE 108 FUCKING LUCKY LUCIANO’S ON MY PHONE AND COUNTING YOU LITTLE SHIT!” Asano screams as he flings himself at his rival, somehow perfectly preserving his coffee cup’s contents as he does.

Karma, still laughing his ass off, responds, “It’s your own fault if you think i’d just give you free blackmail material! What else would i do with a number like yours?!”

“I don’t know! I was actually trying to be helpful, you prick!” Asano exclaimed, tackling karma and somehow not spilling a single drop of his favored drink choice.

“Ah? Well forgive me if i’m used to expecting a trick. Don’t worry too much though, it’s only my old classmates. All 28 of them have access, but at least a couple are too kind or uninterested to bother. If you wanted some real, emotional answers out of me you should’ve had me meet you somewhere. Or shared something personal so i have a bit of collateral on you if you were to, say, leak my texts to you.” Karma says.

Okay, maybe Asano was sort of like that in the past. But he only rarely resorted to things like that now, in pursuit of being respectable! He attempts to whack karma with his free hand while he sets his mug down a ways away.

“Okay, i get it, but why didn’t you ask for collateral before resorting to that?!” Asano.

Karma catches him off balance, restraining Asano and saying, “Hmm, i guess you’re right on that one. But then agaiiin, personal feelings are kind of… you know, personal. It’s just a heat of the moment thing, they’ll all get bored before you know it and your number will be lost in the chat log. If you’re still at all interested in helping me, how about you pick a place?”

Now, Karma was being a bit of a bastard, but Asano still had his long term goal in mind: his rivalry being kept intact with no interference of sour emotions or depression. It was weird that cheering Karma was such a goal right now, but he didn’t think about that too hard. Hell, may as well choose that one place that always gave him uncertain feelings.

“How about the old E-class building?” Asano suggests.

“Wooow Asano. Didn’t think you’d pick such an isolated spot! That’s a pretty personal place.” Karma says.

Asano rolls his eyes. “Yeah, right, we all know you and like 30 other students were crammed up there with a big secret. But it’s abandoned now, and I take it only you know the safe path upward. Who cares now? I’ve seen you leave for that place before, even after that event all over the news.”

Karma takes a moment to contemplate the proposed spot. He finally answers, “Fair enough, we’ll go right after school. Only for a little while too, it’s not like I have nothing to do after school.”

“Fine with me. I’ll meet you at the front entrance of school, then follow you to it. Can you let me go now?” Asano says.

Karma frees him, but only after messing with Asano’s hair a bit. Asano picks his mug up and attempts to smooth his hair back down. After this, they go their separate ways, and go on with the rest of their day. Karma did interact with Asano a bit more after, though it felt like it was more of a gamble to make Asano lose interest in helping him. Asano endured this for as long as he needed though, and actually was excited to engage and get in little academic scuffles again. Soon enough, the end of the day rolled around and Asano found himself waiting by the school entrance, he texts his friends while he waits.

Asano: I have gotten myself into a situation.

Asano: one could say I'm on a slippery slope, sledding directly down it.

Teppei: oh god what are you doing

Tomoya: are you trying to kill your dad or something

Natsu: this is Karma related ain’t it

Asano: I’m going to venture into E territory with Karma:

Ren: oh

Teppei: that is

Teppei: a horrible idea

Natsu: HE CAN MURDER YOU UP THERE YOU KNOW

Asano: and i can murder him too.

Tomoya: dare i ask what the fucks going on

Asano: i’m getting information so that i can have fun in school again. Learn to read and remember.

Natsu: but what the fuck are you doing to get that?! Why on a fucking mountain?!

Asano: just talking. Alone. That is all. Understand me?

Ren: that sounds alright.

Ren: let’s not say anymore

Ren: Asano, I wish you a good time.

Asano: thank you.

Asano: well, he’s coming this way. Stay decent, everyone.

With this, Asano puts his phone away and takes a biiig sip of his 7th cup of coffee for the day while Karma makes his way over. They make sure to shoo off any curious peers that enjoy their gossip on them, and quickly make their way to the forest path. The road was a bit grown over, it had its rough edges and stairs were destroyed, but it was manageable and Karma certainly knew where he was going. At one point they came across a broken bridge over rapid waters, but to Asano’s surprise, Karma got over the gap with some tree parkour and moved a sturdy board over the gap, beckoning him to come across. Once over, Karma moves the piece back off to the side.

“The bridge often breaks, should’ve known it wouldn’t hold out for long… meh, guess it's good for keeping vandals away if they try to get up here. Let’s keep going.” Karma says, as if there was a way for Asano to get back down the mountain without him.

Onward they trek up, and within a couple of minutes they’re at the old building. Asano notes that Karma seems a bit more relaxed up here, maybe even… a bit nostalgic? He was smiling as he walked on ahead, gesturing to the rather lackluster little building that lied before them. 

“Home sweet home~! For a pack of wild e-classers anyway.” Karma announced.

Asano didn’t understand the appeal at all, considering at least one teacher died, another got personally fired by his father and went to jail, and some sort of thing involving a literal monster happened that Asano couldn’t even begin to dissect, and again this place for all he knew was just a tiny crappy hut surrounded by questionably lethal wildlife, but that look and aura Karma had about him made him long to know at least a slice of what transpired up here.

“So, would you like to come inside, sit on the steps, or just walk around while we talk? I’m good with revisiting any of it, honestly.” Karma says.

“You have the key to the building?” Asano asked.

“Nope. But I have bobby pins and the skills to lockpick.” Karma says, a sly smile on his face as he fishes a few out of his pocket.

“I expect nothing less of you, Akabane. We may as well let ourselves inside, then. If it isn’t too dusty.” Asano responds.

With little effort, Karma opens the door and walks right on in, motioning for Asano to follow. To his surprise, the place is spotless on the inside, as if time were frozen from the last day its doors were open. He closes the outer door behind him, taking in the simple view of the hall. He found himself wanting to explore the rooms one by one, but was snapped out of the trance by the sound of karma attempting to fix a crooked door sign with the tactic of running and launching himself off one wall. It obviously doesn’t work, it was just a dorky effort that made Asano want to laugh. He smiles and takes another sip from the mug he brought all the way up here.

“I see you’re already having quite a bit of fun. I take it you come up here to clean occasionally?” Asano asks, as he watches Karma give up on a flashy effort and grab a stool since he was currently just short of being able to fix it.

“Every sunday i scrub it from top to bottom. You polish things you cherish, don’t you?” Karma says.

“Sure. I somewhat understand the sentiment behind it…” Asano says, another ‘what the fuck happened here’ rolling through his thoughts, “...So, what room should we go to chat?”

Karma motions for him to come to the classroom marked 3-E, and Asano strolled over. Karma opened the door, but in a flash tried to close Asano out. Asano had quick enough reflexes to jam his foot in the door before he could close it all the way.

“What do you think you’re doing?! Are you bailing on me now?!” Asano exclaimed as he tried to muscle his way through.

“I’m not bailing, Gakushu. I’ve got to take care of something before you come in, got it?!” Karma retorted.

“Why?” Asano growls, forcing his way in, “What’s so bad about a few…” then, that’s when he caught a glimpse of what was quite nicely drawn on the board.

Before he can marvel at the drawing more, he’s shoved out of the room and ends up on the floor. Gee, he had no clue Karma was A, good at art, and B, willing to spend time and money on chalk just to draw things like that. It was obviously time consuming… and he also found it pretty telling of his feelings over a certain blue boy. But nonetheless, Asano can wait, and just drinks his coffee and checks his phone, combing through some messages and blocking Mimura’s number. It’s too much Lucky Luciano to handle. He wasn’t sure if he would be able to respond here, quite possibly away from service, but he could at least check out what was said to him. Some highlights of what was said to him:

Itona: I think we should just leave it up for consideration… it would be a noble journey to look for abandoned and boxed cats and take them. With the home i have now, i’ll be able to house them and you can come over whenever you want to pet them. There will be no such thing as an excessive amount, i imagine no more than ten and then i redistribute whoever is left among whoever of our friends would like them. Point is, Summer deserves some friends her size and i’d appreciate the help in searching for more. I’ll pay you with whatever you like, Terasaka.

Itona: oh dear god this wasn’t meant for you

Itona: fuck, ignore this

Asano: put me on the list for excess cats please. I will give them a luxurious life.

Itona: i trust this only slightly and will put it into consideration.

Asano: I have enough money and income to give them anything they desire and more, promise to set aside time for them and if my father touches them i’ll file a restraining order. A legal document can be made to put these promises in stone.

Itona: welcome to the top of the list 

Itona: if i can convince Terasaka to take this journey with me. Bye. 

…

Kayano: 1 or 2

Asano: what does this mean

Kayano: doesn’t matter 1 or 2

Asano: what do these options do?

Asano: I'm not answering a thing if I don't know the repercussions or even the subject.

Kayano: OK FINE >m<

Kayano: it has to deal with

Kayano: someone i talk to. The contents of this talk don’t really concern you in any way as far as I know!!

Asano: fair enough

Asano: 2

Kayano: thanks 1w< \- ✩

Kayano: but little do you know that ALSO helped me decide what to plague you with!!!

[insert image of a nicely decorated cake here]

Kayano: now you’ll be plagued with hunger for a bit and never get to eat this cake!!!

Asano: oh, god, how will i live?

[he shows her a picture of a cake he just ordered and had sent to deliver to his house out of spite. Much more extravagant than hers.]

Kayano: whY ARe YoU so comPETItive in EVErything?!!?

Kayano: i want more cake now ;n;

Asano: too bad ⚞＞w◕⚟⬪⬝◈

Kayano: AKSHFKJ YOU EVEN TRIED TO OUT CUTE ME

Kayano: you win i’m hungry

…

Nagisa: i feel the need to do two things here…

Nagisa: 1. Apologize for the majority of the class that is most likely going to mass text you every meme under the sun

Nagisa: 2. Ask how the heck Karma got your number??? Please don’t tell me he stole your phone or something…

Asano: he didn’t steal it. I gave it to him thinking he’d take me seriously.

Nagisa: ohh okay

Nagisa: WAIT WHAT why did you give him your number???? Aren’t you guys like enemies or something?!

Nagisa: I mean he hasn’t talked to me much about your relationship but???

Nagisa: hello???????

Nagisa: please text back TnT

Poor, poor nagisa. He did try to text back, but up here on the mountain he didn’t have good connections, and the unreliable service just cut out again. It was just him and Karma. So he puts the phone away for now, knowing the message will be sent when they’re done up here. When Karma is ready for him to come in, he slides open the door. He was acting like he didn’t just have an entire art piece up on the board, adorning his usual cheery smile that only occasionally got on Asano’s nerves as of late.

“Come on in. pick whatever seat you want.” Karma says.

Asano follows him inside, closing the door behind them as he watches Karma walk to his favorite desk. Asano decides to pull up a chair by it, pouring more coffee into his mug from the thermos he packed for the trip up. He thought he caught Karma making a bit of a face at him as he did.

“You really came that prepared, huh?” Karma says. 

“Of course. Withdrawal is a bitch. So, I believe we came up here to discuss your issues, not mine. Now spill it, Karma.” Asano says.

Karma rolls his eyes. “Yeah, right. We wouldn’t be here otherwise. Okay, so… i really. Really like Nagisa. But I guess you know the extent of that already. Right?” 

Asano nods, “Yes, of course. Now go on.” 

Karma continues, “We were always pretty close with each other, even before class E. the bond strengthened quite a bit by the time we were out of this place, i think… maybe, i’ve always felt this way about him. And about guys in general too. But that’s besides the point, Nagisa is very special to me. But even so, I'm a bit far away from him, I'm not sure what his stance on sexuality is because I never asked about it, and I have a feeling one of my previous classmates may already have… well, won those affections. I don’t know. If not already, then well on her way especially considering that she can get to him much easier than i can.” 

Asano listened closely, humming softly with some points. “What supposed evidence do you have of these previously won affections? Maybe i can help disprove it for you.”

To Asano’s absolute shock and surprise, Karma pulls up the blackmail image he took of the day Nagisa helped free Kayano from the grasp of those tentacles. Luckily, all the crazy nasty tentacle shit was out of the picture, but the image of nagisa clearly frenching the girl was just. It was right there.

“Why… do you have this…?” Asano asked, trying his best not to sound disgusted.

“I don’t know anymore, all it does is upset me honestly. Anyway, your verdict? Figure I'd start with the tough stuff.” Karma answered.

Asano sighs frustratedly, and much to his displeasure analyzed the details of the photo. “I think what agitates me about this the most is that Nagisa obviously isn’t liking it in any way. His posture is stiff, his eyes are open, show no feeling, it’s almost like he’s doing it as some sort of duty rather than seriously intimately. Yeah, that’s definitely what’s off about this. It’s forced and the only thing it makes you do is feel angry or resentful. Karma, i suggest you delete it. Nothing good comes from remembering what you saw here, but if anything is to be taken away from this, it’s that he was perhaps exploring himself, at least from my perspective. He’s not enjoying it, and this increases the possibility that he is, in fact, as into guys as you are.”

Asano looks back over to Karma. He seemed relieved, and that smile was also a bit more genuine and hopeful. Asano takes the liberty of just deleting that photo himself. Asano gives him a little smile back, and sips his coffee.

“Hit me with more of your evidence. I’ll be able to disprove everything you throw at me, without a doubt in my mind.” Asano says.

Karma nods, proceeding to hit him with some other points. Asano was pretty much able to deflect them all. Eventually, Asano found it laughable. And laugh he did.

“Oh, so that one is funny?” Karma asks.

“All of this is hilarious! Karma, almost everything you told me between them was pretty much nothing but platonic interactions! Kayano seems to be nothing more than something one would call, a ‘bestie’.” Asano answered.

It was Karma’s turn to laugh. “I can’t believe i heard you say the word ‘Bestie’ seriously!”

Asano snickers a bit and continues, “I think i have a bestie equivalent of that nature too. Ren is my most tolerable friend, so there you go. Ren’s my bestie.”

In this moment, they both try to hold a straight face, then fail miserably. They just can’t hold it in, and what’s really making Asano laugh is the way Karma’s laughing, as if it were the funniest thing he’s heard all week. Heck, he didn’t even know Karma _could_ laugh that hard. It was fun just to hear.

“Fuckin’ Ren is your bestie. Why is that so funny?! Wait, I know why, because it’s you saying such a weird word and the fact that it puts this image of you guys sharing weird moments. What, did you kiss your bestie too?” Karma giggled.

Asano’s laughs, now sounding sliightly more forced, are drowned in another sip of coffee. The gesture clicks, and Karma is absolutely surprised.

“Wait, did you actually?! **_Did you actually?!_ **” Karma asked.

Asano fake chuckles as he removes the cup from his face, cheeks a slight blush, “Oh, you know… shut up.” 

“Wooow, Asano~ did you like it? I feel a bit obligated to ask your stance now.” Karma says.

Asano waves a hand, “We only did it for me to figure out my own feelings. He’s a good friend, and also comfortable with that sort of thing being a one timer. As for me, I mean, I guess one could tell that men are much more fun for me, and always have been… the kiss was just… confirmation of that. I tried to date girls on a few occasions, but each time I just had no connection, and kisses actually caused me to feel a bit of disgust. Ren, being the good friend he was when i told him certain predicaments offered to let me kiss him and see if it did anything more for me. It did, it was very different. I probably should’ve known, again, but he gave me confirmation that my feelings were not one of a kind. Knowing there’s words for your feelings is a comfort, right?” 

Karma says, “I guess it does make sense in some ways. Did you guys… date?” 

Asano shakes his head. “Nope. There was too much happening and even though he was free I still wanted to think about my feelings. I doubt he’s even into me, he’s had other dates since then. Besides, I'd feel bad for ruining a stable friendship. What are we doing talking about me? This is about you. What’s stopping you from just. You know. Confessing to Nagisa?” 

Karma hums softly, “Well, he’s working on himself right now. I don’t want to get in the way if he’s so swamped with work. Besides… I don't necessarily have a ride. You know? I still gotta wait a while before I learn how.” 

“You seriously don’t have parents that could take you?” Asano says.

“The only family member I have is my older brother. The jackass takes off to who knows where all the time.” Karma says.

“I see. Well. i guess i’ll just have to help you out then, if it comes down to it.” Asano says.

“What, you gonna give me a ride in your dad’s car?” Karma asked.

“I was thinking more on a teaching you to drive line of things, but that can work too. Just figure out when you and Nagisa’s time match up and we’ll get you to him.” Asano answered.

“You’d really do something like that for me?” Karma asked.

“Of course. Why not?” Asano says.

“Don’t exactly get what you yourself are getting from this… usually you only do big gestures with something to be gained in mind.” Karma said sort of suspiciously.

“Think nothing of it. Just offering for the sake of a valued opponent.” Asano says.

“Aww, how kind~” Karma coos, then he stands up and says, “I guess that means i’ll find out why later. For now, I'm gonna walk around and reminisce on some things. Feel free to join if you don’t want to sit up here with the ghosts.”

“Ghosts, you say?” Asano asks, getting up to follow him, and following closely.

“Yeah. I like to think they visit from time to time. They don’t do much harm at all, just linger a bit. Give a friendly wave. All except for maybe one or two, but they tend to stay in the forest and keep to coming around at night, i think. I don’t expect you to believe it, but I just thought I would let you know about them.” Karma responds casually. Was he serious? Who knows.

“No, I believe you. Ghosts are powerful things.” Asano says.

“Huh. would’ve figured your old man would’ve drilled it into you that they weren’t.” Karma says.

“He did try to, once. But we both know he’s haunted every night, whether the ghosts have good intentions or not. Unbelievable for me to say, but i think i’ve heard him cry in his sleep once or twice while up and about. He keeps his door locked, so i can never really check in. to be honest, i’d rather not see what his room is like.” Asano explained.

“Wow. Says a lot about him… a lot of things I don’t wanna bother thinking about. Let’s just get walking and i’ll talk about some things i’ve seen around here.” Karma says.

The two then proceed to walk around the old class E grounds, asano having plenty of questions to ask, like how an entire track area, pool area and arena place had come into being. The most he knew about was that some government looking guys would come around up here. Karma would do his best to explain what would make sense, covering the Koro sensei madness with a blanket of, “you wouldn’t believe it if i talked about this person, so i’ll let them be a mystery for you.” Once Karma gets bored, they head back down the mountain, Karma spinning a tale about some sort of escapade Involving Nagisa and him. 

When they’re back down the mountain, the sun was beginning to set, and both their phones went off with some texts received just now. Asano was about to check if some of his other texts went through, but Karma’s quickly reddening cheeks and hand over his face in a poor attempt to hide it piqued Asano’s interest. Asano quietly puts his phone in his pocket once again, seeing Karma staring down at his phone.

“What’s the matter?” Asano asks.

Karma simply showed what was onscreen. It was a selfie Nagisa took and sent to Karma, with a major difference from the last time he saw him: his hair was cut short, no ponytail or length to be seen. The sight made Asano beam with a secondhand pride as well. 

Karma, now not bothering to cover his big stupidly lovestruck grin says, “He looks amazing. Doesn’t he~?” 

Asano smiles, “Yeah, it’s a major improvement. He looks quite proud of himself too. Do I spot some painted nails as well?” and he points to those nails, done up in a metallic green-blue polish that made them almost look like scales.

Karma takes another look at the photo and reaches peak excitement all over again. Though his actions are on the laid back end, Asano can practically hear Karma screaming on the inside. “So he does! It’s such a lovely touch. Icing on the cake, I must say… I’m gonna go home, text Nagisa about how amazing he looks, and do a bit of studying. You take care of yourself Asano. Maybe cool it on the caffeine, don’t poison yourself with it.”

Asano nods, “Same to you. Don’t get too distracted by your crush.” 

With that, Asano heads his separate way from Karma, and decides to take a seat and read up on texts. Mainly make sure his text to the worried Nagisa went through.

Nagisa: please quit leaving me hanging i can’t deal

Asano: don’t worry. It’s not a romantic gesture, I just did it because it seemed like he needed help.

Nagisa: OH OK thank goodness…

Nagisa: i dunno what i thought and i mean it would be totally cool if you were like, together, i dunno, really is a you guys choice

Nagisa: i wouldn’t wanna intrude

Nagisa: But ok you guys are still… rivals i guess? Ok. fine with that. 

Nagisa: um

Nagisa: so

Nagisa: what’s up with him?

Asano: He just seemed down about certain things for a long while, so I foolishly extended a helping hand that wasn’t insured. 

Nagisa: ah, i see….

Nagisa: is it something with his family? Did he get depressed or something? Is my mom sending him death threats or something awful like that

Asano: first of all your mom is an awful person if she’s going to be doing that to someone close to you, second, you are likely to know way more about his home situation than i do right now. But things, I think, should be okay.

Nagisa: good, i’m glad… uh, if he gets down again, can you let me know? I want to help him however i can.

Asano: of course. You are his friend after all.

Asano: you do seem quite fond of him too. Would it be out of line to ask your feelings about him?

Nagisa: uh

Nagisa: do you mean… like… you’re asking if i’m crushing on him?

Asano: basically.

Nagisa: okay… i guess it’s kind of obvious anyway ^^;

Nagisa: i really do like him, a lot. I don’t wanna become disconnected like we have in the past and i really want to be there for him and keep him feeling happy… and maybe kiss him if he’d let me. I know we’re far away but that’s just because we’re pursuing what we wanna do in life and lasjdkgfdkslg this is too much information i should stop

Asano: i understand. But you can feel free to do that too. The whole feelings text.

Nagisa: Vent?

Asano: i was looking for that word.

Nagisa: ok!

Nagisa: WAIT YOU'RE NOT TELLING HIM WHAT I'M SAYING ARE YOU

Asano: nope. But I understand if you want a legal contract or collateral like karma does.

Nagisa: okay… 

Nagisa: i think i’m going to choose to trust you.

Nagisa: in that turn if you wanna talk about your feelings you can…? But i don’t see why you’d want to you probably have other friends or a therapist for that

Asano: I'm grateful for the open invitation. I’ll talk to you if i really need to.

Asano: but anyway, if you do really like karma that much, what stops you from visiting him?  
  
Nagisa: gee, i know this is a sucky excuse but homework is kind of a terrible pain right now and i kinda have been getting therapy for certain things, neither of us know how to drive and i fear rejection to be fairly honest

Nagisa: I've known karma for like, forever, and I know he can be cruel sometimes… whether he means to be or not. It’s hard to say if i could have the courage or not to say anything…

Nagisa: not to mention my mom would eventually figure it out and she’s dangerous when she’s upset and she doesn’t know i’m gay so like… i don’t know…

Asano: if she hurts either of you i can and will have her jailed

Asano: no question about it

Nagisa: wait really?

Asano: us who hide facets of our personalities and beings from family should look after one another. 

Nagisa: ohhh

Nagisa: one of us!!

Asano: indeed ^^

Asano: but back to the point. You two should coordinate a day to meet up. 

Nagisa: do you think it’s a good plan…?

Asano: sure. Just plan it out in advance. Like a project or preparations for a party…

Nagisa: or an assassination

Asano: a bit extreme but i like your style

Asano: kill your doubt. Kill it dead.

Nagisa: done

Asano: good.

Asano: I have to get going, and I assume you’re busy as well. Text me whenever you feel like picking up and telling me your plans, i’m always awake.

Nagisa: okay! I did have to meet up with my study group in a little bit.

Asano: okay. Talk to you later. By the way, Karma showed me your picture from today. It’s quite the improvement, and you look much happier.

Nagisa: oh!! Thank you Asano!

Nagisa: uh, how did Karma react when he saw it? Do you know??

Asano: it’s safe to say he really does adore the new you. I don’t think your desire is out of reach at all.

Nagisa: omg you have no idea how happy that makes me

Nagisa: anyway bye for now! Thanks for telling me that!

Having had enough for one sitting, Asano heads for home, refilling his mug with what was left in the canister and going on his way. He was quite excited for what was to come. And excited to make a fresh pot of coffee at home.


	2. Rivals can care for each other, right?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gakushu has terrible habits and some... lasting issues from dealing with his family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: a mental breakdown is described in detail here and slight implications of harm, so watch out!

Another day, another night of zero rest. Amidst this night, Asano was staring at the last exchange of texts he and karma had. He hadn’t sent anything else since his number got leaked to E class. But now, amongst the stars, as his mind drifts between a solid mindstate and something adrift, past any care for confidentiality, he thought way back into his past. As he does this, he absentmindedly shoots Karma a text.

Asano: so you really refuse to text me unless i tell you something secret as well? Ok then.

For a moment he stares at the screen, it was burning his eyes a bit and he couldn’t stand bright light at night. But no text came back, and it was no surprise either - he hoped, no, just knew that it was highly likely Karma was asleep. He felt a vague envy, but that didn’t last. He takes a deep breath - he wasn’t sure why, but his chest was aching for an unknown reason. It was probably just his body begging him to sleep, he couldn’t stomach the 15th cup of coffee after a while either. He knew he could probably make up something terrible and tragic, but he had already been typing truthful things into his next text.

Asano: this first one is a bit mundane. I never knew who my mother was. I never even had a name or a face to call her by. She never existed, or so it seems, because i’ve tried everything i could to find her. My father doesn’t give me any clues either, he isn’t any help. He changes the subject every time. Pushes it off.

Asano: Sometimes i think about what she may have looked like. Sometimes i look between a picture of myself and of my old man to try and pick out some variants. My hair is much lighter, eye shape a bit different. If i let my hair grow out, i think it might have a bit of a curl to it, but that’s only speculation. My skin is a bit less pale than my father’s as well, i think. But maybe that’s just from a lot more time spent in the sun after school.

Asano: thus, i sometimes think that maybe… she had some light, curly hair. Blonde, just like mine (though i dye it to look how it does now). I’d like to think she’s pretty too. Maybe with red or maybe green eyes. Someone bright, fancy, since father always talks to those kinds of people. Or maybe she’s the opposite, rotting away somewhere. But that hurts to think about. Either way, through riches or poverty, at some end of either extreme, she may be off the map entirely.

Asano: on the other hand, in a more twisted thought, sometimes i wonder if she truly never existed. Maybe i was just some sort of clone, something made in a lab with mostly father’s DNA and a mashup of donor genes to which nobody could be traced. Just painted up to look like a completely normal, completely human boy. When i’m just some odd super-creature living amidst a line of other clones, waiting for the day thats revealed and its expected of me to customize and release another inhuman yet passing creature on the world. I don’t know.

Asano: the thought of it makes me freak out. I once for a while stuck with it and started to question whether or not i actually had blood and all that. I’ve seen people bleed all the time, especially that day, cuz my dad is sometimes just that stuck to the ideals of winning, but i never have, no big bleeding event i could remember anyways. Not even a nosebleed. But i challenged the theory. I found out i bleed just fine, and it was a bit comforting. But it was also done shotilly. I still have the scar, don’t know how my father never noticed. Maybe he figured it natural since we tend to mirror each other so painfully much. Or figured it to be another unspoken, horrible flaw. Then again, the spot is rather hidden usually.

Asano: either way, who knows if i’m a regular human, or a human clone? I wish i could have a bit of closure on the subject.

Once it was all out, sent before he had the chance to read it over or feel regrets. He read it over. Suddenly, with the few shreds of consciousness flickering back, he felt a dampness on his cheeks. Before he knew it, his feelings were bothering him again. His hands were shaking too. They shook with the distress of sadness and a touch of withdrawal from not having drunk any coffee for an hour or two. It made it difficult to type clearly.

Asano: well, you got what you asked for.

Asano: this is very, very personal. Nobody else knows.

Asano: don’t tell anyone.

Asano: please.

Asano: i feel sick.

Asano: goodnight.

He had to shut it off. He wearily plugs his phone in, and as he sets it on the desk next to his bed he reaches for the rest of that coffee, if not desperate to stop his shaking, desperate for something to drink. He gulps it down, then lies back down, clutching the cup as he forces himself to swallow and breathe. Before he knows it, panic surges up again, and everything calming or gentle in the world is swallowed by an overwhelming pressure. Laying down was too much, it made his stomach and throat twist and ache. He sits up, but that was also overwhelming, and gravity didn’t help the aches and panic that weaved itself around his heart, neck, and stomach, and tugged hard. He was shaking down to his core. Before he knew it, he had to rush for the bathroom.

Tonight was just full of regret and panic. He’s been betrayed and defeated by his very own mind and body in every terrible way, and he was unsure of how much time he spent sobbing and vomiting in the bathroom that night, apologizing to nothing for god knows why. But it ended eventually. Somehow, he found himself able to stand. He rinses the mug out that somehow managed to stay with him throughout this. Instead of coffee, he filled it up with water. He sips it slowly, and begins to return to his room, still shaken and with no signs of calm. He opens the doors to his little terrace slightly, and a calm, warm breeze flows in, suddenly cleansing the room’s energy by the grace of some unseen force. Asano stared out into the night, feeling a sort of fondness for whatever peaceful entity that roams the night. 

He slowly walks to his bed, setting his cup down on the desk by his phone. He lies back onto his bed. His blanket feels a hundred times softer and cooler. He appreciates it as he begins to sink into it. He grabs a pillow his head wasn’t being supported by, slowly pulling it to sit against his chest as he held it close. He takes a deep breath of that calm air. He still felt a slight pull of his nerves here and there, had a couple violent shivers left, but it was less frequent. Less strong. There were still tears, but they were tired and lazy, more following the orders of a sleepy haze. Another slow breath. He can breathe. Before he knows it, the world began to flicker out of existence in a few slow, barely fighting sleep blinks, almost like someone was turning off the lights in his mind. There was no way to fight it. The next blow of a gentle breeze did him in, as if blowing out a final candle and enveloping in a dark, vague, springy warmth.

He was granted a few calm, precious hours of sleep.

…

Asano awakes to his alarm a few hours later. It wasn’t a whole lot of sleep at all, definitely under average, but it was more than he’s gotten in a good month or two. He gets ready, has breakfast with his father as usual, neither of them talking about their mid-night issues and lying to each other about having adequate sleep, as is the usual per each day. Once that’s over with, they head out on their respective businesses.

Asano feels a pit in his stomach as he gets to school. He sits in his car for a moment, reading through last night’s texts sent in his odd, sleep deprived and panic inducing texts. There wasn’t any response yet, so Asano casually tosses in a next text to hopefully deter Karma from reading, and god he hoped Karma didn’t share anything with anybody.

Asano: Goodmorning. Please disregard those texts. They were made while i was half asleep and reading a sci-fi novel. Nothing’s wrong, I’m perfectly fine.

God he hoped that would do it. He felt like an idiot for dumping those things into texts, and god knows that you only push people away by dumping all that on them. They were rivals, he shouldn’t care or want to know anything like this unless its for blackmail, right? He pushes the thoughts away, shoves his phone in his pocket and gets out of his car to walk to class, mug cupped in both hands. It was water today, no coffee. Though he needed the break occasionally from his caffeine, this day would be pretty shitty for him health wise. But still, he’d try to keep his spirits appearing high and hope for the best to come.

He gets into his class, and is surprised to see Karma there early. He had quite the breakfast setup on his desk, a bit of coffee, a bacon egg and cheese sandwich he was currently finishing up, and three different donuts too. Dammit, it made him feel hungry. He walks over to sit in his desk.

“Morning. Seems you’re early this time.” Asano mutters as he walks past.

Karma swallows the bite of food he had been chewing and responds, “Yeah, i do that sometimes. Good morning to you too, Gakushu.”

Asano sits, and turns his attentions to his cup of water and phone. It was kind of odd to hear Karma say his first name again. Maybe he was mocking, maybe he didn’t check the texts at all yet. This lets Asano really begin to relax. It’s just another mundane day, possibly with his rival back in action. He sent the disregard text just in time, and Karma hasn’t read a thing. It’s smooth sails, right? Of course it is.

After a couple moments, and no replies back from his other friends just yet, he hears the shifting of the teen in front of him, sighing and stretching. He looks up for a moment, and Karma leans back to look at him.

“Hey.” karma says.

“Hi.” Asano responds.

Deciding this was uncomfortable, Karma sits back up and just turns himself around to face him. He also grabbed one donut, a boston creme with chocolate frosting, and placed it down on a napkin on Asano’s desk. But he didn’t start eating it or anything, just let it sit and waited for Asano to say something about it, cheek resting on hand and sporting an oddly gentle smile.

“Are you… trying to give that to me?” Asano asked.

“Yeah, i guess. I’m full right now and i’ve got two more for later.” Karma answers.

Asano squints. “What’s wrong with it.”

“Bold of you to assume that  _ all _ my food offerings are meant to kill you.” Karma says.

Asano humms. “ i wouldn’t put it past you to burn me.”   


Karma says, “I’ll bite it if you want me to prove myself. But would you take it if i did that?”

Asano says, “I will. Just show me it’s not spiced out or something, i do want it if it’s good.” 

Karma picks up the doughnut and takes a bite, just big enough to get to the center too. He chews and swallows with no issues, even shows Asano that there’s no discolored filling, nothing to indicate spice or anything. He then sets it back down and scoots it closer to Asano.

“There you go. Enjoy yourself a bit.” Karma says.

Asano takes one more moment to contemplate whether or not he should eat it. He decides why the hell not. He goes ahead and eats it. And with that, it kind of made him realize how he rarely got doughnuts for himself. It was really good. He took his time eating it, feeling slow today anyway. No hint of messing with or any off taste, just pure sweetness of chocolate and cream. 

Karma fiddled around with a pen in his hands, just passing the time. He decides to pick up conversation again. “So, i see you’ve got water today. That’s quite a first.”

Asano says, “i need the break occasionally. I might have my usual a bit later, i might not. Why the sudden concern over it?”

Karma shrugs, “Just found it strange. Didn’t realize you actually sleep either, Gakushu.” 

“Well, i usually don’t care for it. It’s a waste of valuable time.” Asano replied, taking another bite of his gifted treat.

“How is getting proper energy during the time nothing happens a waste of time?” Karma asked.

“One can use the time for reading and other activities. Caffeine makes for a perfectly fine substitute, and i feel my days have been very productive.” Asano says.

“Or caffeine can be a hindrance and you’re just shortening your lifespan by not treating yourself to proper rest.” Karma mutters.

“As if you get any sleep in your adult life these days. Just being prepared.” Asano says.

“It’s why you should at least get what you can take, then. Preparation means nothing if it’s just harming you.” Karma says.

Asano sips his water a bit. “That may be true. But i’m still alive. I’m fine like this.” 

Karma hums softly, then says, “If you insist, i guess i can’t stop you. Or maybe i’ll just have to kill you and save you the course you’re taking.” 

Asano chuckles a bit. He knows that “Kill” was just Karma’s way of saying “defeat”. “I’d like to see you try.”

“I’ll succeed by the end of the day. It’s a promise, Gakushu.” Karma says with a smile.

With that, Karma turns back around, and a few waves of classmates begin to come in. Asano still wasn’t sure how he felt about Karma using his first name so liberally. But what he did feel sure for, and very pumped about, was the promise of a challenge to come. And that day, a challenge he got. Their classroom debates on questions were heated, the teacher was baffled, and they held the class in a state of awe as they challenged each other at the front of the class, their center stage. Sure his head was pounding, his heart thundering, sure his hands fumbled slightly here and there, but this was where he was happiest. He didn’t think to care about why Karma had been so kind to him today, or defend himself about drink choice. He was just having so much fun.

Then, Gym class came around, and this is where trouble hits. He had just gotten changed into gym clothes, and now he was shaking all over, likely from withdrawal. It makes him realize the sheer amount of fatigue he was experiencing, and gives him a bit of worry. He wanted to compete here too, and there was no way he could go out there like this. Not only could he not play right with these tremors, but imagining the sheer amount of people seeing him like this made him burn up inside. He simply couldn’t have it. So thus, he figures hiding out in the locker room was the right thing to do. Nobody bothered him, they all just filed out to go to class.

Except for Karma. He came in to look for Asano, and noticed him practically instantly. He crouches down in front of Asano, curiosity very piqued. With how he observed, with gears obviously turning, oh god this just made him sicker feeling by the moment.

_ Gakushu Asano’s weakness 1: every few months, he crashes hard from his coffee intake habits. _

“Must be the withdrawal, right? I could tell you were having trouble for a while now.” Karma says.

Asano sighs and says, “It’s not like that. I just caught a bit of a chill. I can handle my break day from coffee.” 

“Really? You’re pretty stubborn with this, Gakushu. No matter how good you are at things, you’re still a human. Not some sort of robot, or a clone.” Karma sighs softly.

Asano froze up a tiny bit. Well, as froze-up as a jittery, tired mess could be. Was he… referencing those texts? God, he was so afraid to ask. Asano decides to adjust his sitting, hands resting just above kneecaps, hiding a little detail Karma may have been looking for. Deep breath in, deep breath out. Well, no harm in asking.

“Hey… you didn’t read all those stupid texts, right…? I think that’s the only thing that’s been bothering me.” Asano says.

“Well… sorry to say, but it was at the top of my notifications this morning. No worries though, i didn’t tell anybody what i saw. But hey, we can talk about that where people won’t pry. For right now, how about we say fuck gym class for today and have some time to relax?” Karma asks.

“I… i guess. They’ll understand if i excuse myself. Maybe i can use a bit of food too…” Asano decides.

Karma smiles again, and helps Asano up. “We’ll take a walk to my fave fast food place. It’ll be fun, trust me.” 

With that, the two excuse themselves and take that walk. This felt kind of strange for Asano. He never ditched class before, he never ever really was outside on a school day either. Nobody paid them any mind, or asked what they were doing outside of school like he thought they would. Karma was just confident in his decisions, there was no hint of unease. But then again, he expects that, since Karma makes it a habit to wander off at least a few times a week. They get to the restaurant, order their food, and within moments they just. Get to have a relaxing moment sitting at their table. The food did help Asano somewhat.

But god, now he didn’t know how to just talk to Karma. He felt like he should be saying something, but he couldn’t think of anything that felt good to say. It seemed like Karma was alright with silence, but he just felt so rude for not speaking. Asano eats some of the chicken nuggets he got, and tries to get his thoughts on track. Welp, there’s one obvious thing he could say.

“Thanks. It was pretty kind of you to bring me out here.” Asano says.

“No problem, Gakushu. Sometimes people need a break from life. It’s only natural.” Karma mused, as he was likely texting his crush.

There was another thing. Why was Karma using Asano’s first name so much? Did it have something to do with his breakdown from last night? What was the deal with that? Was it just meant to get on his nerves or something?

“By the way… what’s with the sudden decision to just start using my first name? Just out of curiosity.” Asano asks.

Karma hums and says, “Good question. Why did i choose to use your first name? Maybe i just felt like it. Maybe i’m using it because it’s your name, unique to you alone, and maybe using it would in turn help you feel less like some sort of copy. Or maybe, I’m just using it because it’s what i do with friends. Yeah, some combination of those.” 

“You think of us as friends?” Asano asks, not really thinking about how condescending that sounded before he just spoke.

Karma nods and says, “We’ve known each other well for a long time. I think that makes us some degree of friends, you know. Friends with an excitingly heated academic rivalry, right?”

That’s the unspoken mood. Asano nods vigorously in agreement. “Sounds about right.” 

“Yeah. contrary to popular belief, we’re allowed to talk and help each other out occasionally, right? So i can just be there for you if it’s needed. I don’t hate you, Asano. Besides, you’ve been kind of nice lately too. So i guess i’m also returning that kindness.” Karma says.

It’s kind of funny how true to his namesake he is, Asano thought. It was charming in a way. He also had no clue how to react to someone just being purely kind without some sort of ulterior goal in mind. He clenches the mug in his hands. It’s full of soda. He also just didn’t have much of a will to put on a relaxed front, and the little bit of genuine kindness does threaten to make him blush.

“...thanks. I appreciate it.” Asano says.

“It’s nothing.” Karma says casually.

The two then experience a bit of a pause in chatting. They both enjoy their food for a while, taking in the relaxed atmosphere. Asano’s nerves had wound down quite a bit, and the silence from Karma no longer felt cold. With this silence, Asano thought about conversation topics. He didn’t exactly want to focus on school. But maybe they could talk a bit about Nagisa, and the plan about getting Karma and him together. That was something he could focus on.

“So, Karma… where do we go from here with your plans? I mean… about your little crush. Where do you suppose we start?” Asano asked.

“Hmm? You want to focus on that right now? Alright…” Karma takes a moment to think, taking a sip of his soda, and answers, “I guess i should try and pick a day or two in the future to set up with him. Depending on if you want to drive me or i learn to drive myself, that will either have to be a ways away or whenever, really.”

“I’ll have to see about your skills. Either you’ll be able to be taught fast, or you’re a disaster on the road and we’ll need time. The safest bet to play, i guess, would be me driving you, if that’s not too embarrassing or anything.” Asano says.

Karma smiles and says, “I’ll gladly take a ride. glad that’s settled. I’ll shoot Nagisa a text right now about it, though it’ll probably be a while before he answers. Since we’ve missed gym, we’ve got all of lunch period to just wander or relax. So take it easy, Gakushu. I’ll worry about time and stuff. Focus on eating.”

Asano simply nods, and focuses on his food. After they’ve both eaten and left the restaurant, they walk around for a while. But Asano, rather than energized, felt even more sluggish than before. Eventually his vision swam, and before he knew it, he had to lean on a pole for support. Karma, as sharp as ever, turns around and stares for a moment. A bit of a grin creeps over his face, but no smartass remarks follow it. It seemed like he really wanted to, but held back as he walks over to see what was the matter. Asano’s mug was empty, and so was his energy tanks. He really didn’t want to admit he was ready to pass out.

“You need a break?” Karma asks.

“No.” Asano answered bitterly.

“Really? I can tell you’re struggling. Those bags under your eyes are at their worst.” Karma points out, poking the dark marks under his eyes.

Asano only responds with a frustrated groan. Karma giggles a bit, in that same old mischievous way he does.

“Alright. Well… how about i just carry you on my back for a while? Perhaps resting your legs for a bit is all you need.” Karma suggests.

After a moment of barely any thought going on, Asano nods tiredly. He barely registers half falling on top of his rival, and being lifted up. He holds on to the best of his ability, and they’re moving again. He didn’t have any energy to make any sly comments. Time dissolves in his mind, so he gives into the tired, and rests his head against Karma. The only thing his mush brain can register is the smell of a mix of spices that came from Karma’s clothes.

…

Karma moves to his own tune, quickly and as carefree as ever. The passenger on his back, Gakushu Asano, was fast asleep. It was a rare moment for him to be so tired, and Karma didn’t think Gakushu would let his guard down that much around him. But here they were, parkouring across buildings to get to Asano’s place so he could lay the dude down to rest. He guessed he was doing this because he felt bad for him today. If it were years ago, he would’ve dropped Asano somewhere random, probably.

But with enough effort, there they were, at Asano’s home. Karma found the little terrace connected to Asano’s room pretty quickly.

“I’m surprised you keep this unlocked. Never know what kind of creeps could just waltz on in.” Karma mumbles to an unconscious Asano.

He plops the boy down on the bed, freezing for a moment as Asano stirs, but settles back down. Karma stands up, and takes a look around at the furnishings. There were lots of places to sit, pillows, beanbags, a work desk, and numerous amounts of books and devices, plus a radio. There was a large closet Karma was curious about, and the terrace they came in from looked like something out of a dramatic tv show, the kind you’d find some lady in a fancy dress standing on and stargazing while sipping some expensive wine. On second thought, he could pretty much envision Asano doing that sort of thing. The entire place also smelt like how he imagined drama smelt - like expensive ocean themed candles, fabric, and aged paper.

Spacing out on the room aside, he looks back at Asano. The guy was still in his gym clothes, and at the angle he was laying, Karma could see the scar that Asano texted about the night before. The gash was horizontal across his leg, between the inner and front parts of his thigh and half covered by the gym shorts, but definitely big and visible. It made him feel bad for the guy, remembering how Asano explained he did it because he questioned how real his body was. But hey, there’s no changing the past. He sees if Nagisa got his text to pass the time.

Karma: Hey Nagisa

Karma: you have lunch today or are you spending it having lunch and studies with whoever you made friends with over there? 

Karma: i’ve ended up in a little interesting situation of knowing too much about Gakushu Asano

Karma: i hope your day is better than his. I’d dare say this is near one of his lowest

Nagisa: hey I’m here!! What’s going on? Is Asano going to be okay?

Karma: i’d say he will be soon

Karma: he texted me some personal stuff last night and probably had a breakdown or something and today he was just absolutely out of it

Nagisa: ah, i see… i feel bad for him…

Nagisa: tell him he should get some rest! But be nice about it!

Karma: already handled.

Karma: [Image: Asano sprawled out on his bed, out cold with scar in view]

Nagisa: woah

Nagisa: Wait you’re actually at his house?? As in he or his dad let you in?

Karma: lol you know if that ex principal knew i was in his son’s room he’d curse me or something

Karma: Asano’s balcony is a nice entry point he keeps it unlocked

Nagisa: that. That makes me nervous. He shouldn’t do that

Karma: ikr its like begging some dude hired to kill/sabotage his dad to come in

Karma: but then again it’s the asano household

Karma: wouldn’t be surprised if asano has sent assailants packing

Nagisa: maybe so…

Nagisa: btw, would asano mind if you spill what he told you? I’m very concerned

Karma: i don’t think he’d like that at all, so you’ll have to coax it out of him yourself.

Karma: he really wanted me to believe he was sleep texting and you and i both know he doesn’t sleep no matter how much anyone bothers him about it. Unless it’s the rare occasion of today where his batteries die

Nagisa: god that’s so unhealthy

Nagisa: you’re alright with me texting him about this stuff, right?

Karma: ofc i’m fine why wouldn’t i be

Nagisa: ok cool, just making sure i wasn’t stealing your thunder or anything…

Karma: lol you’re not dw

Nagisa: as fierce as the competitions used to be, i feel like he’s grown on you a bit

Karma: maybe just a bit

Nagisa: i mean, i do hear about him all the time from you. Did you guys ever become friends, or am i looking at this from a wrong perspective?

Karma: it’s fair to say that we’ve come a long way

Karma: if anything, Gakushu is the one that’s still stuck thinking we hate each other

Karma: i really don’t hate him

Karma: not as much as i used to

Karma: I’ll admit i used to be jealous sometimes.

Nagisa: oh? You were jealous?

Karma: yeah

Karma: i think the feeling was very mutual

Karma: i used to hate how everybody looked up to him and how he looked down on other people, as if people liked getting stomped in the face

Karma: i hated everything he did in the beginning, even down to the way he looked at you

Nagisa: I wasn’t aware he had a special look for me compared to the way he’d eye other people??

Karma: Point is, i really made it one of my goals to knock him down a peg any chance i’d get.

Karma: and in doing so you tend to learn a lot about things

Karma: i like to think i taught him a thing or two as well

Karma: but he still is behind on figuring some things out

Karma: you two have a very painful similarity

Nagisa: should i ask?   


Karma: you should.

Karma: both of you have parents that aren’t too good at their jobs when it comes down to it. They can do the basics but when it comes to emotions and actually letting the child grow for themselves properly, that’s where lines blur. His father has him so focused on being unbeatable, treating every peer as an adversary that he doesn’t realize he has so much time. Asano feels like he has barely any room to breathe, and he’s suffocating because of it. He’s stuck on perfectionist mode.

Karma: usually i don’t give two shits about so called academic rivals

Karma: but asano is one of those people that you just can’t ever ignore even if you wanted to. So i let myself get curious and pry in. 

Nagisa: i always knew the principal was a creep. Sure he made changes, but it wasn’t much.

Nagisa: i know the weight of being pressured to succeed. Its overbearing and every moment not spent towards a goal feels like a crushing step backwards. The principal is a monster, a perfectionist for everything… if he’s any bit like my mother is, he wants asano to be just like him. Just thinking about that makes me feel sick… it’s like an impossible goal. 

Nagisa: mimicking pressure is an impossible thing to accomplish on its own. A parent shouldn’t expect their child to be the spitting image of themselves and it in itself is just impossible for any kid to do. We’re all individuals and to be absolutely perfect on top of all it? To be asked, “hey, do all of this and if you don’t get it right you’re going to meet me in my office later for who knows what!!”

Nagisa: … no wonder he doesn’t sleep at night.

Nagisa: if the goal were personal, he could do it, maybe. But if it isn’t, there’s no way.

Nagisa: plz do help him develop his feelings, I’ll do my best to help support him too. His dad is just as emotional as the change in his pocket.

Karma: don’t worry, i’ll help him out

Karma: as you were typing all that out he started having some sorta dream

Karma: he’s talking in his sleep its great and i’m recording it

Nagisa: aww

Nagisa wait why are you recording it

Karma: to taunt him with later this is adorable

Karma: judging by what he says he’s having a really fun time with somebody

Nagisa: share it w me i wanna know

Karma: will do >;)

Nagisa: awesome

Nagisa: gosh i gotta get back to class. I’ll text you later, okay?

Karma: okay -.-

~~ Karma [deleted]: i love you ~~

Karma: i miss you

Nagisa: I miss you too!! *hugs*

Karma: *hug*

With that, Karma stops texting his crush and looks over to his little friend here. Asano was one hell of a sleep talker, and karma was absolutely sure he’d end up waking himself up. 

“Wait… just… wh… need to know…” Asano murmurs softly, and he rolls over onto his side.

Karma checks the clock - it seemed very close to the time they should be heading back to class. But with the poor state asano was in, would that be okay? Karma was seriously debating just leaving asano here to rest in his room. But then again, was that risky with Asano’s dad about and around?   


Karma leans back, stretching onto the lower half of the bed. He figures he’ll give Asano time to wake up, and when he does, give him the option to either come over, go to the old E building, or go back to class. May as well, right? The poor guy could use the option of a break.

The day marches on. Sadly, Asano, though flustered someone was in his room, wished to be brought back to classes as soon as he was up and aware. Karma would humor him in class, then once school ended it was time to go home and relax for a while. As night fell, he debated going back out to the E class building for some peace and quiet, or hanging around to study seriously. He could only wonder what conversation Asano and Nagisa might end up having…

If anybody could convince Asano to get proper rest, he believed it would be Nagisa. Even if it were only texts from a distance.

…

Nagisa: Hey.

Nagisa: are you busy? Sleeping?

Asano: Not at all. 

Asano: will it be a civil conversation, solicitations, or memes?

Nagisa: just a regular conversation, Don’t worry ^^

Nagisa: i could’ve sworn i said i wouldn’t bother you in any bad ways before… but i guess that was a ways back!

Asano: Right. Alright. What do you want to talk about?

Nagisa: well, i’ve just heard a couple things from Karma. Don’t worry, he’s tight lipped about important secrets, i’m mostly worried about your sleeping habits… he’s talked a lot about how you don’t get any sleep. 

Nagisa: do you mind if i ask you why you stay up so much?

Asano: well… i do it because it gives me more time to complete things. And even if there aren’t excess assignments, there’s usually more things i can look up and educate myself on, hours to be more of my own and explore on my own. Sleeping feels more like it subtracts from this time if anything, and i get by alright with my coffee. In fact, i get severe withdrawal without it. But its fine, as long as i get in about ten cups i’m okay. Did you know a rubber duck can be used in code debugging?

Nagisa: asano?

Asano: yeah?

Nagisa: that’s not fine asano

Asano: ah

Nagisa: actually i really don’t know how this habit hasn’t killed you >n<

Nagisa: everybody needs at least eight hours, maybe ten depending on the type of person. If you deprive yourself of sleep you’re stunting your growth. Don’t you wanna see if you can get taller than Karma??

Asano: ...you spoke to my soul for a second there

Asano: but by that logic, you must’ve barely slept too.

Nagisa: insult aside, that’s actually true! But it wasn’t entirely my fault. 

Nagisa: the one person i lived with was a complete psychopath that did anything she could to make me look more feminine, from making me afraid to sleep to even giving me unwanted pills that i often had to flush down the toilet and act like i took! 

Nagisa: i completely regret sending that! But are we done talking the shit i went through?

Asano: i. Hate your mom

Nagisa: so does everyone, she’s insufferable. She tried to make me commit arson! I tried to be nicer, and she took advantage of me! She said she was making changes when i graduated, but didn’t!! She called me the day i got a haircut and screamed at me too! Bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch, that’s what she is!!!

Nagisa: sorry about that

Nagisa: i’m getting to the point of apathy with my feelings on her

Nagisa: again, we’re not talking about her right now. Let’s focus on you.

Asano: don’t worry i feel the same way about my father. You want receipts? I’ve got plenty! Hmm, lets see, there’s the way he just talks to me, the way he never sounds all that emotional unless he thinks he’s joking but it’s actually just plain mockery, oh shit, the things i can’t unsee that crawl out of the nightmares in my head like FUCKING CENTIPEDES 

Nagisa: you can tell me if you want

Nagisa: i’m tough (ง’̀-‘́)ง

Asano: you know what? Fuck it

Asano: can never let me win as a child, debated me on everything, manipulated my friends with his mind games, murdered foreigners in front of me, seemed to have scrubbed evidence of my mom ever even existing, threatens me all the time about failing, has killed MULTIPLE students via technicalities with his jackassery complex and the grade class system you guys proved to be fucky, and punched me so hard i hit the wall! Thank fuck for our family’s inhumane genes or i would’ve broken my neck!!!!

Asano: i fucking die inside whenever someone says to me, “Oh, you’re just like your father!!”

Asano: NO.

Asano: I HAVE A SOUL AND HE HAS SCORPIONS WHERE HIS HEART SHOULD BE

Asano: the fucking worst part? I will never be able to take any legal action for what he’s done because he’s  _ explicitly stated _ he will battle me in court and win due to the sheer amount of cash in his pocket! And he has the nerve to ever try to declare he’s making amends or ask me how a nap was HIS VOICE IS PERMANENT SNARK. AND HELL IF I’M GONNA LET HIM JUST DECIDE TO MAJKE ME DO SOME FUGCKING ARSON TOO

Asano: I WILL BURN MY FUCKING HOUSE DOWN

Nagisa: no you won’t

Asano: … i won’t

Nagisa: i really understand where you’re coming from… and i think all this pent up stuff with your father and all that is definitely contributing to your sleep issue. You’re afraid he’s going to do something awful and there would be no way to stop it. Right?

Nagisa: or on the adverse side of things, you don’t ever want to be like him, so you’re trying to get a leg up in your skills for practically the entirety of your day, and spend your nights doing the leisure activities you didn’t have time for due to this

Asano: you’re wise. And honestly… very on the mark.

Asano: i guess we both got the short end of the stick on parents. But you at least get why i stay up.

Nagisa: i really do, but sleep really is important, you know?

Nagisa: for a while, i was stuck in the same mode you are, fill up the day, then leisure for the night hours. But all nighters will definitely eventually kill you. Humans just can’t go long without sleep. 

Asano: then how do i stop?

Nagisa: half the battle is challenging the fears that bring you to doing it in the first place.

Asano: sword fight my father

Nagisa: no

Asano: =(

Nagisa: but what you can do is just. Stop caring about his terrible opinions, and try to get around his attempts to guilt trip or manipulate you. It’s a tough task, but you just got to trust yourself with picking out the signs, you know you’re brilliant and smart, and say fuck you to them without actually using the f word because. Well. you know

Nagisa: getting the 8 hours is valid enough to need to rearrange your schedule you know. He can’t just deny science for productivity or brag rights and i bet you he doesn’t sleep thanks to his sins so you’d be gaining on him in that right.

Asano: you really do know the right words to say to me

Asano: knocking out all the pegs from beneath him is one huge goal. I guess it starts with changing the game up a bit.

Asano: i’ll try to readjust my schedule. 

Nagisa: Good ^u^ I’ll help you out if you need me to.

Nagisa: but you’re really smart, so i doubt you’d need my help.

Asano: i know. Thank you~ 

Asano: so i guess i’ll dedicate certain days to things like sports and practice with music, and language and various other tasks…

Asano: perhaps i should plan things weeks at a time. And adjust the plans as i slowly fix my sleeping schedule, because that will take time.

Nagisa: sounds good!

Nagisa: i gotta go, but feel free to text me whenever!

Asano: i extend the same rights to you. Later.

After such a talk, Asano sighs and darkens his screen. Well, that’s two rather important people that want him to sleep more. He figures he should really try to put an effort into this. He realizes he could lie, but he didn’t want to do that to them. After all, he would be  _ matchmaking _ these two, he reasons to himself, so it wouldn’t be very good if they found out he lied to them in any way. Well, time to stop being mad about it. Sleep is a good thing! It’s time to plan!

Asano grabs a fresh notebook, and quickly sketches up a schedule. Within a few hours, he’s planned for four months in advance of scheduling, even allowing time for unexpected events that may or may not happen. Asano smiles to himself, sipping from his mug reflexively. Right, he should switch that coffee to tea eventually. He writes this in to the plannings. The back of his mind reminds him how much he despises the taste of tea, but he double assures himself he’ll be forced to like it.

Now, the hard part was putting these things into practice for an extended amount of time. He makes copies of his plan and sticks little notes on how to follow it through around his room. So far, so good. As much as he was hyping himself up to do this, he knew it wouldn’t be very easy. But he was determined to do this, for glory, for his friends, and for himself. And to take a stand too, of course.


	3. Study Time!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's time to get studying! will Gakushu be able to keep his plans, or will those plans get jumbled up? even with a planner, it's hard to keep things balanced!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> caffeine is addictive!
> 
> also goku appears in this chapter. You'll understand later...
> 
> (there's also a bit of Crossdressing in this chapter, but don't worry! it's done in a positive light, and Nagisa is definitely not the one doing it. Pinky promise!)

For a few weeks, he manages to stick to the plan quite willfully, lowering his coffee intake. The bags under his eyes have been reduced, and he seems to be managing everything well to others at least. It was a shock to pretty much everyone, how well he was doing, but also a little bit expected, considering the way his bloodline seemed to operate. His carefully woven plans were working on and off. He’d get karma and nagisa to set a date to meet, but then something would come up and delay the date. It was absolutely infuriating, but the only thing they could do was keep rescheduling. And thus, Asano pushes on, slowly drawing them together when he could, suggesting video chats and the like. 

He crashes hard with his own plans a month and a half into the madness. Its when midterms come in, and he’s been piled up with more than he had anticipated. He gives into the coffee. It’s not enough at that point, he doesn’t feel more awake, so he begins to set up a little experiment. As he’s piecing it together, his phone buzzes. 

Natsu: how’s the panic attack that is KG midterms

Teppei: can you be nicer? Ever?

Tomoya: midterms at kunigaoka schools are pain

Ren: Asano?

Asano: hahaha

Natsu: oh lord that’s a bad sign

Asano: [image of a lab setup, involving distillers and flasks and the works]

Natsu: NO

Teppei: what are you doing asano???

Natsu: **_DUDE HELL NO_ **

Tomoya: ELABORATE MOTHERFUCKER

Ren: i can’t help but feel like this is a horrible sign

Asano: so regular coffee isn’t working! I can’t seem to wake up like i need to!

Ren: oh no

Asano: so! It’s time to extract the pure caffeine from the coffee. I’ll drink that, maybe with some shots of expresso and a bit of cream and other mixes of energy drink to liven it up!

Natsu: YOurE goINt tO FUCKinG KILL YOURSELF

Teppei: what are you gonna do about your SKYROCKETING HEARTRATE FROM THAT

Asano: I’ll take some anxiety medicine with that :)

Ren: Asano no!!

Natsu: YOU WILL ENTER SLOWFAST YOU DO NOT WANT THE SLOWFAST

Asano: what if i do want slowfast?

Natsu: I SPEAK FROM EXPERIENCE WITH 7 MONSTERS AND A WEED YOU WILL SUFFER EXTREMELY

Asano: none of you are going to stop me. 

Tomoya: you will die!

Asano: would any of you really care if that were true? I’ll live.

Ren: anybody have Karma’s number? I have to ask him something.

Asano: (XXX)-XXX-XXXX

Asano: wait

Ren: i’m gonna send him over, okay?

Asano: I WAS TOO FUCKING TIRED TO REALIZE

Asano:  **_THIS IS WHY I NEED THIS_ **

Natsu: STOP BEING SELF DESTRUCTIVE YOU FUCKING BRAT

Asano: STOP FUCKING CURSING AT ME YOU INCEL I HAVE TO FINISH AND EAT THIS SHIT BEFORE REN SENDS THAT RED DEMON AFTER ME

Teppei: we all know you dream of getting the kabedon on with him

Natsu: WHAT THE FUCK

Teppei: what

Natsu: SHUT UP

Teppei: silence thot i speak the truth

Tomoya: oh asano!!!! Look at what the dumbasses are saying! We’re gonna keep slandering you until you stop!

Natsu: you guys do realize he probably muted his phone right?!

He did. He muted his phone, and currently Ren is desperately texting Karma, even calling once to get his attention. 

Ren: Karma!!

Ren: its ren 

Ren: not that you’d remember me

Ren: but its important! About Asano!

Karma: what’s wrong? Someone trying to kill him?

Ren: No, but he’s going to do himself in!!

Ren: [image asano sent prior]

Karma: oh god

Karma: that’s distilled caffeine in the works, huh?

Ren: yes. He plans to add in expresso shots and other energy drinks.

Karma: wh-

Ren: and chase it with anxiety meds or somethin to take the heart rate down???

Karma: THAT’S NOT HOW IT WORKS

Ren: word!! He's not thinking straight, so stop him!!

Karma: don’t worry i’m going

Karma: i swear to the moon he better not have ingested that shit by the time i get there, or else i’ll have to make him throw it up

Ren: thanks for the help -w-

Karma: yeah np 

Karma: btw why couldn’t you go

Ren: on a date

Karma: ofc u are

Karma: anyway bye

With this, Karma rushes off to stop Asano from killing himself with caffeine. With the ability to parkour across the roofs of buildings, this was accomplished pretty quickly. He enters through Asano’s balcony, just as he sees the psycho in question mixing up that chaotic death speed brew. They pause as their eyes meet, Karma mid walk towards him and Asano mid taste test. With the spoon in his mouth.

“Whatcha got there?” Karma inquires, knowing full well what it is.

Instead of answering, Asano just tries to chug the mixture on the spot. 

_ Gakushu Asano’s weakness #2: has trouble with falling into old habits. _

Karma lunges forward, as quickly as he can go, wrestling the cup from Asano’s shaky hands. It appears that Asano didn’t get much in, and Karma rushes to the balcony to dump the cursed liquid into the grass below, and does so as Asano shouts and struggles to get the mug back. Once all is said and done, Karma lets out a sigh of relief, and sets the cup down on the little table nearby with a smile. Asano is furious. 

“Why did you do that?! I needed that!!” Asano growls.

“You know no human can take so much caffeine.” Karma counters.

Asano shouts, “And YOU know I’m from a family of freakish superhumans! I probably could’ve taken it and been-”

“Sick for days.” Karma interrupts, “Your sleep is not a good trade for a grade. Understand?” 

Asano has no rebottle but a tired anger noise. He gives karma a shove and growls, “You don’t know anything!”

Karma chuckles, and gains that sinister light to his eyes. “Do you really wanna fight me over this? You really wanna do this?”

Asano seals his fate with a nod and fighting stance. They have a little struggle until Karma pins Asano down by the wrists. It’s a bit of a process, and Asano accidentally butt dials one of his friends.

Thus, meanwhile…

Ren: [Upload of “ Terrible_Buttdial_record.mp3”]

Ren: h

Tomoya: WUT

Natsu: OH MY GOD WHAT ARE THEY DOING

Teppei: Well ya see when two people have extreme tension between them (Plus romantic undertones)

Natsu: IMMA STOP YOU RIGHT THERE WE ARE NOT DOING THIS

Ren: i was pointing out that they got into a fight or something

Ren: outta the gutter with your minds!

Ren: karma won i think

Teppei: karma tops

Tomoya: well obviously

Natsu: I

Natsu: CAN’T

Ren: and then asano never spoke to any of us again, the end. Well done everyone. We have hit our worst. 

Once karma has finally gotten Asano pinned down on the floor, Asano slowly begins to stop struggling. Exhaust is catching up very quickly. It was no fair! How come Karma still had so much energy to do this? He glares up at Karma and his shining golden eyes, who had the audacity to smile and giggle at him while he just kept getting more and more embarrassed by this whole thing. He wasn’t sure why he had gotten so flustered like this, but he wouldn’t break eye contact and admit full defeat.

Gakushu Asano’s weakness #3: Pushes himself too hard during midterms, thus taking a toll on physical strength.

“Are you done struggling yet? Shall we move on to disassembling your little science fair so you can get to bed?” Karma asks. 

“Never!” Asano hisses.

Karma laughs harder. “Never?” he repeats, and adjusts his position atop his rival, leaning in closer with his cool tone, “What’s so wrong with resting? Didn’t we cover that sleep is good a few weeks back? What did Nagisa tell you?”

“Its midterms, Karma! I can’t rest at all!” Asano growls, trying not to get worse with the embarrassment, “i’m following my schedule, but there’s still so much prep and there’s no time, there’s never any time!!”

“Aww, how sad. That means your dad’s adding to it, right? Why don’t you tell him to leave you the fuck alone?” Karma asks.

“I can’t do that.”

“Why not?” 

“Oh I’m sorry! Did you want to try and oppose him??”

There’s a bit of a pause. Karma looks a bit less amused, just for a moment. But then he’s smiling again, only it’s less joking, and much more soft.

“Sure, i’ll try it if you let me. We’re putting that shit away, and you’re coming with me. Alright?” Karma announces. 

Asano takes a moment to think. God, Karma is crazy. “Okay. i guess. Let me up.”

Karma stands up, and helps Asano to his feet. He packs away the little ensemble of lab equipment, and Karma rummages around in Asano’s closet, taking sets of clothes and stuffing them into one of Asano’s unused bags, and also grabs Asano’s usual school bag. Asano neither paid attention nor cared about what Karma grabbed. After the equipment was gone and Karma gathered what he wanted to gather, Karma puts one of the little bags onto Asano’s shoulders. 

“Follow me. We’re gonna take a little trip.” Karma announced, gesturing for him to follow. 

They climbed down from Asano’s little balcony and onto the ground. The fresh air was nice, and Karma motions for Asano to follow quickly. Karma runs, so Asano does all he can to keep pace. Eventually they arrive at another rather wealthy looking place, and Karma pulls Asano inside. 

“Welcome to my house, Gakushu! You’re gonna stay here, not giving a shit about your dad until midterms are over and he fucks off!” Karma says cheerily. 

“Wait- what? I can’t do that, Karma! It’s horribly disrespectful!” Asano says. 

“Oh yes you absolutely can. He won’t care. I think you’ll find it pretty cozy here. How did you not catch on? I packed you with enough clothes to last. May as well, right? And being here helps you get the drop on my strategy, so it’s all wins for you.” Karma explains.

Asano thinks on it for a moment. “I… I’m tired, okay? It’s been a long week. Just show me to my room…” 

“Will do~! Come along quick.” Karma says.

Asano is guided to a spare guest room directly beside karma’s own room. It’s just about the same kind of luxury bedding and such that Asano is used to. Karma does a fancy little bow and arm sweep, and Asano enters the room. In fact, he just flops face down on the bed whilst throwing his bag haphazardly.

“Feel free to settle in.” Karma says

“Yep.” Asano responds, muffled by the soft, cool sheets. 

“You must be tired. Well, i did make you run to get any possible bits of that shit brew out of you. Have a nice rest, Gakushu.” Karma says with a smile.

“Will do.” asano answers. 

Karma is halfway out the door when he stops dead in his tracks, and runs a hand through his bright red hair. “Right! Almost forgot to tell you this. You know how Nagisa and I keep trying and failing to meet up?” 

“Mm?” Asano responds.

“Well, we’ve finally got a date scheduled. I figured since midterms and all, we’d gather to study and let Nagisa test his teacher skills. Would you be up to being part of the makeshift class?” Karma asks.

“Yeah… Sure…” Asano answered tiredly.

“Excellent. Can’t wait for the day~! Sweet dreams, Gakushu. Breakfast’s on me tomorrow.” Karma says, and proceeds to close the door.

Karma then wanders into his own room, putting away the books he was working on shortly before this whole thing with Asano. He stretches, yawns, and smiles to himself, thinking about all his exciting plans in action. Once all is settled, and Karma has switched his rush gear to pajamas, he settles down and grabs the manga he was working on reading from his bedside table, smiling to himself all the while. 

His plan was going along quite smoothly.

…

Karasuma: Irina. 

Irina: Karasuma! How are you doing, sweetheart? 6^u^-☆

Karasuma: I’m talking to you in texts

Karasuma: if you’re going to be cutsey save it for when i have to deal with you in person.

Irina: wow. Harsh TnT

Irina: okay, so what do you want? You don’t usually write to me during work hours.

Karasuma: well that's because its involving the kids.

Irina: WAIT WHAT KIDS WHEN DID WE HAVE KIDS???

Karasuma: Irina.

Irina: oh right you were talking about the E class brats. I don’t know how i could’ve possibly forgot about them ^^; sorry about that!

Irina: so did one of them go sad and evil mode and finally try to make another koro sensei? Did anybody get together that Rio didn’t tell me about? Oh god who died????

Karasuma: hush. Nobody died yet. 

Irina: YET???

Karasuma: well we all die someday so stop getting off topic and listen to me. It involves the kids, but there’s no way in hell i’m getting the majority of them involved in what’s going on. Especially because this enemy will certainly target around 3 of them. And if we remember the last encounter, it’s narrowed to one. And you and i both know who.

Irina: oh.

Irina: OH NO I THINK I KNOW WHO YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT

Irina: NO WAY I THOUGHT YOU GUYS KILLED HIM

Karasuma: you know their teacher would never allow them to do something like get blood on their hands. Any blood that wasn’t his, anyways. 

Karasuma: I’ve already got the details of the breach. We’re trying to keep a track on his whereabouts, but the thing is that he’s pulling innocents into this. 

Irina: honey please don’t tell me he’s adding serial murder to his charges

Karasuma: comparing dates of his escape and the string of crimes, with the type of teens biting the dust, i think it’s too much of a coincidence. The higher ups are ordering assassins on him but it seems he’s even worse than the last time. I’m considering contacting Gakuho again and trying to warn him, and perhaps get his assistance.

Karasuma: He will be looking in that area, since he doesn’t know where Nagisa is. He’s going to be collecting information and hostages. 

Karasuma: knowing the events of the last time, i don’t want karma knowing about this, he will know doubt actively seek out our target. I don’t want Nagisa in the know either; there’s no telling how he’ll take it. And i’d think there’s enough on both of their shoulders with their studies. 

Irina: so i’m going babysitting?

Karasuma: that’s the idea. 

Irina: bluh, fine. It gives me a chance to see some of our old students in person again at least…

Irina: you better give me some sugar before and after i go tho! ^3^

Karasuma: I’ll think about it -_-

Irina: FINALLY

Karasuma: ?

Irina: YOU DID AN EMOTE ON THE WORK LINE SUCKER

Irina: YOU ADORABLE BASTARD

Karasuma: that’s a weird thing to be excited about.

Irina: I’M EXCITED BECAUSE YOU DID SOMETHING CUTE FOR A SERIOUS DUDE

Irina: i’ve saved and screenshot it lmao

Karasuma: okay. Just go get ready to travel.

Irina: i will!

Karasuma: :)

Irina:AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!

Irina: <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

…

Karma: hey.

Karma: Heeeeeeeeeeeeyyyyyy

Karma: Ren.

Karma: Look over here!

Karma: bitch. Answer your texts

Ren: okay fine what is it

Karma: just a quick question about Gakushu

Ren: alright, what do you want?

Karma: What’s his favorite thing to do that’s not work related

Karma: a leisure activity or something he’s got a passion for 

Karma: i kind of need answers quickly

Ren: hold on i’m kind of working on a paper right now;;

Ren: i know his favorite thing to put on was those concerts for the school festival!

Ren: he got really into it. If you didn’t know him, you’d think he wanna be an idol or something.

Karma: so he’d probably like Karaoke then? 

Karma: ?

Karma: you take an HOUR to respond

Karma: tick.

Karma: tock.

Ren: Don’t do that! It’s annoying.

Karma: Annoying would be sending you blank texts 50 times

Karma: an old pal of mine does that when he’s panicked and has nobody else to talk to

Karma: i guess it’s when his bf is busy and the rest of their little squad is also fucking around somewhere unnear to him

Karma: i kinda feel bad for him when that happens

Ren: You mean far away? Unnear isn’t a word

Karma: you still understood it tho so  ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

Karma: guess i made a new word!

Karma: anyways i guess im gonna go if there’s no more juicy Gakushu secrets kept in your Asymmetrical hair

Karma: well?

Ren: idk man! Quit texting me i need to focus!

Ren: Discover his secrets for yourself! Why are you calling him Gakushu anyway? Isn’t that kind of odd?

Karma: well if you must know i like how its his name and i do what i want.

Karma: go finish your paper you nerd, if that’s even really what you’re doing.

Ren: i am!! What else would i be doing??

Karma: idk texting the others of your little pack

Karma: or kissing one of them since your flirt efforts don’t really go how you want them to with other people as of late >:)

Ren: No!!! That’s not what i’m doing!!

Ren: none of those guys are my type we’re all just bros!

Ren: ugh now you just gave me a really ew image

Ren: i’d never kiss any of them esp. Not Natsuhiko

Karma: already lying i see! You gave Gakushu his first when he was questioning his sexuality.

Ren: HOW DID YOU KNOW THAT

Karma: i have my ways~

Karma: and who knows ren? Maybe you’re just the push Natsuhiko needs to actually start caring about his appearance. Nobody else is willing to poke that mess with a ten foot pole it seems. 

Ren: SMDNJKGLJNFBHUJFDKSDJFH

Ren: SHUT THE FUCK UP

Karma: cool down and put on the glamour goggles for a second~

Ren: NO

Karma: instead of wasting away his days on 2d shit and whatever else interests that motherfucker

Ren: SHH

Karma: you pull him from his monster cave~

Ren: STOP

Karma: ya put the will in him to dust off all that grime and bog, clip off some of the branches of his rude persona~

Ren: SHUT UP

Karma: What kind of face lies under that disgrace? Is it a face you could love, Ren?

Ren: I WILL BLOCK YOU

Karma: Kiss the frog Ren

Ren: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

…

Ren: ASANO

Ren: FOR THE LOVE OF GOD MAKE KARMA STOP

Asano: What is he doing to you?

Ren: HAVING IDEAS

Ren: PUTTING THEM IN MY BRAIN

Ren: THIS PAPER IS DUE TOMORROW

Asano: what kind of ideas?

Ren: I

Ren: i don’t want to say it ;-;

Asano: Okaaaay. You gotta give me a hint so i know what to scold him about, though.

Ren: IT WAS WEIRD AND ROMANCE RELATED

Asano: Alright, give me a sec. Have you not blocked him?

Ren: i literally can’t, he’s the one other link to you that i’ve got in case you go feral again…

Asano: i wouldn’t say *that* was feral

Asano: it was more just a moment of weakness.

Asano: also karma says he’ll stop torturing you. For now.

Ren: thank goodness… you’re a lifesaver, Asano ^^;

Asano: but in my humble opinion, regardless of your intentions, Please give Natsuhiko a makeover. He needs somebody to kick his life into gear and you’re closer, but don’t baby him about it. He needs the hard shove. Maybe an Iced coffee thrown in his face.

Ren: :))))))))))))

Ren: maybe when i’m not plagued by Karma’s tauntings, Asano?

Asano: right, right. Go ahead and carry on with your day. Get that paper done.

Asano: the curse has no time limit to be broken.

Ren: I SEE KARMA’S RUBBING OFF ON YOU ASANO

Asano: i see you’re still too afraid of me to tell me to shut up.

Asano: i’m thinking of joining the little taunt, seeing if i can get a bit more under your skin than Karma can…

Ren: PLEASE DON’T YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO BE THE MATURE ONE

Asano: your denial only fuels me.

Asano: go finish your work… or maybe just go ahead and think on that other option Karma gave you.

Ren: our classes might be different but when i see you in the halls again i’m going to- wait what AM i going to do you’re you!! I can’t even fight you!

Asano: quitter talk. 

Asano: well, i have to go study. I’ll talk to you later. 

...

About a week later from the day Gakushu had been promptly kidnapped by Karma, it was time to go see Nagisa in person. As Gakushu got himself up early that day, he couldn’t help but feel excited. He was excited about the whole meeting, yes, but he was also excited that he was getting up early enough to surprise Karma with breakfast this time! He hadn’t been able to wake early enough to beat him to it, but today he was determined. And as he sneaks downstairs to the kitchen, all seems well. Not a sound is made in the house, no soul awake. So Gakushu goes ahead and starts up the stove, happy that he’d get to show Karma his cooking skills. His ultimately superior skills, of course. Because rivals.

What dish should he go for today? Omelette? French toast? Pancakes? Perhaps omelettes are the right choice, considering that karma loves things you can add spices to. As he decides, he hears the distinct sound of a small body plopping down stairs, and claws skittering along the ground. Gakushu knew it well, considering how it scared the shit out of him the first time he heard it. 

“We meet again, Goku.” Gakushu says dramatically, turning around and pointing the spatula he had at the doorway. 

In the doorway was a large Iguana, about the size of a small dog. He seemed to have just finished a shedding, for his gleaming orange-red scales were much redder than the last time he saw them. Goku lifts his majestic, scaly body, showing off those spines as he ran at Gakushu. He leans down and gently pets the big guy. Goku gives him some slow blinks, and the dulap beneath his big head unfurls, a sign of happiness.

“What will i sacrifice to you today? Fruits or vegetables? Or do you want both, you greedy little monster?” Gakushu asks the reptile.

Goku answers by scampering over to his little bowl, and placing a clawed, demanding hand into the bowl. 

“Both it is, you gremlin.” Gakushu says, pausing his breakfast prep to quickly feed the Goku. he chopps up the appropriate foods karma showed him, some apples, tangerines, strawberries, and adds pre-packaged spring mix salad to the mix, and promptly dumps it into Goku’s dish. 

_ Gakushu Asano’s weakness #4: Animals. Enough said. _

The iguana goes fucking nuts as usual, and feasts on the food Gakushu has spoiled him with. Gakushu turns his attentions back to making breakfast, and decides the meal will be eggs with a side of bacon, berries and muffins of course. The muffins were prepackaged, but that doesn’t mean he can’t make them even better. 

Time passes, and he gets pretty giddy as he hears Karma trudge down the steps. Goku, having finished his meal and leaving a trail of vegetation in his wake, scampers away to be the first to greet Karma. A small price to pay for setting up this breakfast perfectly. By the time Karma finishes greeting and petting his animal friend and finally gets to the doorway, Gakushu has finished his setup. He stands confidently, a big smile on his face.

It takes Karma a moment to register the scene before him, but once he does, it makes him smile. “Guess you beat me to it this time.” Karma says.

“Yep! And you finally get to see my skills for yourself, and see I’m the best at making breakfast!” Gakushu says, beaming with pride. 

“That i do. But don’t get too ahead of yourself, the taste is what matters the most~” Karma says.

“Well come sit down and taste away! I bet you it’ll be superior.” Gakushu says. 

The two sit down at their respective seats and dig into the food. Well, Gakushu is going to wait until Karma takes a bite first. He wants to see the look of enjoyment, no wait, utter defeat on his face when he realizes the dish Gakushu made beats all the previous breakfasts Karma had made for him the days prior. Karma is taking his sweet time because he is tired, yeah, but he also knows it’s the perfect way to tease Gakushu, who’s practically vibrating in his chair. 

When Karma finally gets around to taking a bite of the omelette Gakushu made for him, he does make a pleasantly surprised face. It has pretty much the perfect mix of spices that Karma enjoys in it. This causes Gakushu to smile widely in turn, which causes Karma to smile too. 

“Yes! I knew it! You like it, it’s better!” Gakushu shouts triumphantly.

“Hmm, perhaps~ but who am i to make that call?” Karma replies smugly. 

This causes Gakushu to pause. “Wait, what do you mean by that?” 

“Of course, i find it pretty good. It’s practically perfect in cooking time and you got all the spices right, but it’s different from the pancakes i’d make you. We’ve cooked vastly different things, and to make a call on what’s better we’d need to make the same thing and serve it to someone else.” Karma says. 

Gakushu folds his arms and pouts. “Dammit, you’re right. I guess this just means we should make something for Nagisa then.”

“I like the idea you’ve got there, but let’s take it slow. This the first time either of us are seeing him in a long while. We gotta make a good impression, don’t we?” Karma says.

“True, true. So the plan is to bring something like fast food to the meeting, right?” Gakushu says, finally taking a bite of the food on his plate.

Karma nods, “Yeah, for things to be simple and fair anyways. We leave to see him at one. I bet you’re excited to show off.” 

Gakushu says, “the whole day sounds pretty exciting. And for once, I’m rather rested up for the event.”

“Yep. you’re looking even better without the bags. They’re fading right away~” Karma says. 

This causes Gakushu to smile a bit again. “I have to admit, it does add to my beauty quite a bit. Rebellion feels good~” 

“That it does~” Karma agreed.

The two enjoy their breakfast in peace. Once again, Gakushu takes a moment to appreciate the calm atmosphere. Back when he had breakfast with his father, there was little enjoyment found in exchanges, it was more business than leisure time, with tension between them so thick it threatened to break the world around them from the pressure alone. But here with Karma, there was no such pressure. In his first day or two, it was a difficult adjustment, and he didn’t trust Karma’s cooking one bit. But now he adored the serenity this place brought him; it was a perfect little vacation indeed. In this week spent with Karma, he didn’t have much anxiety, and what he did have, Karma helped with. 

He was pretty happy here. And this day was going to be very, very interesting.

Once they’re both done with breakfast, they go on about their day, making sure things are in order and that they’d be ready to go studying with Nagisa. Gakushu digs into his bag for another set of clothes for the day, hoping Karma packed him something pleasant to wear for the meeting, as he was going in descending order in the bag.

It’s just about now that Gakushu notices - he’s run out of pants. The time would draw near for them to see Nagisa, and Karma had put a load of laundry in only moments ago, leaving no room for his stuff to be washed in time. Well, he guesses asking to borrow a pair of pants wouldn’t be too bad. He seeks out Karma to ask, hoping it was a decision well within the realm of good and okay. 

He found Karma dressed casually but neatly, in what seemed to be freshly brought clothes, reading the manga he had been working on all week on the couch.

“Karma, it seems you kind of made a mistake when you said you packed me enough clothes for a week. I don’t have any more pants to wear, and today’s the day where i really need them, you know.” Gakushu says.

“Ah, I guess i made a little mistake. It’s laundry day today, so i don’t have a lot on hand to lend… but i do think i have a little something. Lemme go get it.” Karma replies, sliding his bookmark into the pages of the book and setting it down. 

Karma moves on by quickly, heading upstairs. Gakushu follows along, already deep in thought. He couldn’t help but get the vague feeling Karma was up to something, could’ve sworn he saw the ghost of a little devil tail trailing behind the red haired boy, but he shook it out of his mind. It was a simple mistake made days ago. It’s not like the boy would pull out something like leopard print bell bottom pants. He’d torch it on sight and opt for going in boxers. 

Once he makes it up and peeks his head into Karma’s room, he sees Karma reaching up in his closet for something, ever so casually and happily. The casual, sly giggle tells Gakushu that nope, he was wrong, this was a long term plan in action  _ specifically _ for the day they’d be seeing Nagisa.

“What is it, Karma?” Gakushu asked apprehensively.

Karma spins around, triumphantly holding the garment out. It was a high-waisted mini skirt, designed and shaped to look like it was made of a pair of butterfly wings. Between the black shaping of monarch wings, the purple hues between the black monarch linings definitely meant to match with Gakushu’s eye color. 

“You don’t mind wearing this,  _ do you? _ It’s all i’ve got~” Karma says smugly.

After he was done staring at the garment, Gakushu promptly snatches it from Karma’s hands. “You talk like giving me such a beautiful skirt to wear is a prank. I’ll look so good your little plan backfires.” Gakushu says. 

“I’ll believe it when i see it.” Karma says, as if he thought Gakushu in a pretty skirt was anything bad! God, he was glad the boy was too out of it to check his clothes that day. It’s been too long since he’s seen another pretty boy in a skirt.

Gakushu goes back to his room to change, looking through his remaining shirts to pick something that goes best with the skirt. A black shirt with a white devil ghost seemed to fit the ticket just fine. He gets dressed in the half-loaned outfit, and adjusts his shirt to show off the wonders of that skirt in its entirety. If he was going to be doing this, he had to put the effort to make it look good. 

The more he thought about it, the more flustered he felt. He’s never actually worn a skirt before this, the closest thing would’ve been an angel toga for a school play, and even then that barely counts and was way longer. He’s not sure how to move in it or if there’s a special way to sit… but he beats back worry with the desire to be the best. He’d make girls on the street jealous. 

He looks at himself in the mirror - not bad, not bad at all! - and feels that confidence flowing in him again. He exits his room with confidence and a pose, hell yeah, he totally predicted Karma being there ready to take a picture!

“Looks pretty great on you~” Karma compliments with a smile, rapidly snapping photos at any angle he could get.

Gakushu poses confidently in all of them. “There’s not a single outfit i can’t pull off. Remember that, Karma~” he replies. 

“I sure will. So, is this it? We all ready to go?” Karma asks.

“Just about.” Gakushu answers. 

After a minute or two more of gathering study materials, the two head out to go study with Nagisa. Their destination is, of course, the old E class building, but they’ll be stopping to meet up with Nagisa at the bottom of the mountain. As they approach the meetup spot, they Notice Nagisa wasn’t alone; three other recognizable faces also stood, and Gakushu noted that Karma didn’t seem to mind the faces. He’s sure they both thought it would just be them and Nagisa, but he guesses this was okay. After a moment, from a surprisingly far pace away, Nagisa notices the two boys and waves them over with a smile.

Karma waves and says, “Good to see you guys again. Gakushu, you remember those three, right? Rio, Okuda, and Kayano.” 

The girls wave as well. Rio says loudly, “Long time no see, Karma! Didn’t think you’d bring Asano alo-” 

And then everyone kind of pauses when Gakushu’s outfit comes into full view. Rio instantly snaps a photo. Gakushu could tell by her face that she was definitely sending it to the E class chat. Okuda blushes, and Kayano is surprised at first, but then is entirely unphased. 

“Lookin’ good!” Kayano compliments him.

“I see Karma’s still up to his old tricks…” Okuda adds. 

“How the hell did you get him into that, Kar? It must’ve been a fight that rivaled the stuff our old teach used to do.” Rio says. 

Gakushu shrugs and says, “It’s barely a prank. I think i look amazing~” 

And Karma replies, “I  _ totally _ miscounted the pairs of pants he would need while he stayed over. There was nothing else but something i just happened to have lying around, thanks to it being laundry day and all that.” 

“Nice~” Rio replies with a grin quite similar to the kind Karma likes to wear.

“Sure is~” Karma says, then looks to his crush, “What do you think, Nagisa?” 

Nagisa was stuck staring at their skirted friend for a while, an expression hard to decipher beyond it being awe. When Gakushu notices the somewhat awestruck gaze, he meets it with a confident smile, quite the adverse reaction to the kind Nagisa would give when faced with wearing feminine outfits.

“Is there a problem?” Gakushu asks him.

After a moment, Nagisa recovers from the little moment he has, and is finally able to speak. “N-not at all! In fact it’s the opposite - i think you look really good, amazing even!” 

Gakushu beams with pride. “Why thank you~ i’ve heard some stories about of you pulling off some looks, but i thought i’d give this style a try. If i didn’t want to put it on, you bet it would be Karma wearing the skirt.” 

Karma puts an arm around his shoulder and says, “I’d like to see you try to make me.” 

“I think i could with the changes i’ve been making. I’ve been able to study you quite closely as of late...” Gakushu replies.

“Oh really?” Karma says threateningly.

There’s about a split second of tension before Nagisa interjects, “Well, i think you’ve pulled it off way better than i ever could!!” 

It throws the both them off. “Oh?” Gakushu says.

Suddenly his hands are swept up in Nagisa’s, who gives him a gentle nod. “I really do think that! You’re good looking and the absolute confidence you radiate ups the appeal by 100%! Believe me, i don’t usually like skirts, but seeing you flaunt so confidently is just a whole new reality! You make them look fantastic!”

There’s something about Nagisa’s ways with words that makes most people flustered and oblivious. Karma, a seasoned veteran of being near Nagisa and understanding him can see some slight undertones to these compliments. Gakushu is none the wiser, letting his ego be stroked and being fully taken away by Nagisa’s little advances and gestures. The holding of both hands and all seemed just a bit too calculated. Or he was jealous.

“You make me blush, Nagisa~ i guess i could get used to a style like this.” Gakushu says.

“That would be so neat! If you want anymore skirts, I’ve got plenty lying around that nobody’s using… though, i don’t know, it would take some tailoring to bring them from my size to yours… it’s probably not a good idea...” Nagisa says, looking slightly saddened by that.

“I wouldn’t mind putting the effort in so long as the clothes are in good shape. Send whatever you don’t want my way, i’ll fix them up and just toss whatever doesn’t suit my tastes.” Gakushu says, already feeling the need to alleviate Nagisa’s apparent moment of sadness. 

Nagisa perks up and says, “Really? Are you sure? I wouldn’t want to burden you, you’re always so busy.”

“Modifying clothes takes no time at all for me. I’ll gladly take them off your hands.” Gakushu insists. 

“Okay then! Expect some mail from me soon.” Nagisa says, and after that he lets go of Gakushu’s hands and turns to the others and says, “Well with that, i guess we shouldn’t sit here all day. Let’s head up the mountain and get to studying!” 

With that, the small group heads up the trail, Nagisa and Karma at the head of the group, Gakushu close behind them, and the girls falling in line together to talk out of full earshot. 

“Wow, is it just me or did Nagisa’s speech skills just give him a place to dump his mom’s shitty gifts?” Rio whispers to the other girls. 

“He’s really never stopped improving. If life were a game, you’d be surprised by how many stats he’s maxed out.” Kayano whispers back.

“Nagisa is kind of terrifying if you think about it…” Okuda adds softly. 

They watch the boys chat, with nagisa asking Gakushu if he wants to join the conversation, and him gleefully accepting in his own restrained sort of way. 

“Karma’s grown in some ways too. I would’ve never expected him to start befriending the guy who used to be such a big personal threat. Not only that, but you see a lot less influence of Mr. Principal, and a lot more of Karma’s.” Rio says, framing those ahead with her hands.

“Oh! That’s true… Gakushu does seem different too. One would think he’d be more defensive over letting Gakushu near, but everything seems fine.” Okuda says.

“Who knew the three strongest guys would get along so well? And on another note, how much do you wanna bet that Gakushu has zero self-awareness?” Kayano asks.

“Oh he totally doesn’t. I could tell you exactly what he’s thinking: ‘wow, it’s so refreshing to see Nagisa again! But golly, is it a really rival thing to be accompanying karma on what’s basically a study date? Oh sure it is, i can see the E class strategy for myself and conquer it! All without disturbing the relationships i’m invested in. flawless plan.’ something like that.” Rio answers, grinning a bit.

“Geez, he really doesn’t know himself. Also in what world does that boy say ‘golly’?!” Kayano says.

“In one where i rule.” Rio answers shortly.

“They’re all pretty neat, despite all that. Who do you think is the most powerful at the end of the day?” Okuda asks.

There’s a short moment of thought before the girls, even Okuda to answer her own question say, “It’s Nagisa.” 

“I mean, is that really even a question? Look at him. Despite being a dork, it’s almost like he’s got the world in his hands. Two crazy strong and crazy smart boys fawn over him.” Kayano says.

“Oh totally. And like you said if he’s never stopped sharpening his skills he may as well be a god at this point. A god that wants to teach. How familiar.” Rio says. 

Okuda nods in agreement. Time passes and on the way up that bridge is still broken. The E class kids parkour across, all except for Nagisa. He stays on the other end with Gakushu.

“Do you know how to get across?” Nagisa asks him.   
  
Gakushu squints and replies, “In all honesty… i’m surprised the rest of the group could clear the gap. I’m not quite so sure i can…”

“Well, don’t be afraid of it. Here, i can teach you how to get across.” Nagisa says. 

“Who said i was afraid? I’m sure i can do it with a little guidance.” Gakushu counters, following Nagisa closely. 

“I’m sure you’ve got enough strength for it. And don’t worry about falling short, I’ll catch you if you fall!” Nagisa says. 

The others get to watch Nagisa teach Gakushu, how he gently guides and demonstrates a couple times, and see just how quickly the purple-eyed boy picks things up. It was a bit shaky, but Gakushu managed to get over the gap with little trouble. He gets some praise from the rest of the group for accomplishing his first parkour jump, and then they quickly move on.

Once they reach the old building and break in, things are smooth sailing from there. Everyone hangs out and studies, Nagisa mostly leading the learning while Kayano keeps talk casual with the girls. The three gals were mostly interested in checking up on their old friends still based around their old school, hence why they joined Nagisa for the ride, and they pretty much got their answer for Karma: he was steadily increasing his bond with Gakushu and maintaining the already strong bond he had with Nagisa pretty nicely. Their next stop was going to be a surprise visit to the terasaka gang, and the girls wondered if they should cut the visit/study date short. They were only half-listening to Nagisa and Nagisa seemed more focused on the growing debate between Karma and Gakushu. 

“Hey Nagisa, do you mind if we go say hi to Terasaka and the others while you guys have your fun up here?” Kayano asks.

“Not at all. Go ahead, we’ll be up here studying for their midterms and stuff.” Nagisa says as the argument behind him festers.

“Thanks. We’ll bring you guys back some fast food or something…” Okuda says.

The girls get up and head for the exit. Nagisa turns his attentions to the other two boys who were out of their chairs and wow, Nagisa forgot how theatrical their scuffles were. It was both entertaining to watch and educational. But he figures he should break it up before things got too off topic. But as he was in the middle of gently guiding things back on track, something else happens.

Rio slams the class door open. “YO GUYS BITCH SENSEI IS HERE!!!”

Wait. did… did Gakushu hear that right?

And can’t things ever go as planned?!?!


	4. Break time!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> instead of actually studying, the group ends up going on a surprise journey! and for Gakushu, once again, his tendency to pry gets him tangled in a rough situation...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this was a fun one! there's a little list at the bottom worth looking at, but save it until you've read, first!
> 
> oh, and Gakushu is still wearing the skirt. just mentioning for those who wish to avoid that.

Gakushu has no clue what kind of person Irina Jelavic is, and he was definitely not expecting to meet one of E-class’s teachers in a place that’s supposed to be off limits. Then again, they were a bunch of teens breaking this rule too. 

“I had a feeling you little scamps were up here. Well, guess it’s better than coming up here for nothing…” Irina says, stretching out her pains as she spoke.

She then spots Gakushu, standing with Nagisa and Karma. She searches her memories of the E-class kids’ faces, trying to remember which one Gakushu was.

“And there’s you too! Good to see you again, um…” Irina pauses, then says, “Uh…” 

“He wasn’t part of E class, Bitch Sensei.” Nagisa interjects. 

“Oh, that’s why i don’t remember him. Sup?” Irina says.

“The name’s Gakushu Asano. Nice to meet you… Bitch sensei. Gee, it seems i’ve forgotten your name.” Gakushu says shortly.

“Yep. that’s it. Don’t wear it out.” Irina says.

“Anyway, what’s with the surprise visit? Didja miss us?” Kayano asks.

“Sure did! What were you guys doing up here anyways?” Irina asks.

“Um, we were just up here holding a makeshift class… we tagged along with Nagisa because we thought it would be fun. Plus Rio is our driver.” Okuda answers. 

“Well that’s boring. Hey, why don’t we all get off this crummy mountain and go do something fun?” Irina asks.

“Well, I already had a place in mind. I guess you could tag along if your uptight little husband is neglecting you that bad.” Karma teases, walking out of the doorway and joining the others.

“Hey! He’s not doing that! If you must know he’s very loving and amazing in-”

Nagisa instantly covers Gakushu’s ears, as she rambles on while the rest of the small group either get flustered, look like they’re ready to put a sock in irina’s mouth, or have a mix of both on their faces. Near the end of her string of words, Gakushu gently removes Nagisa’s hands.

“I can’t say i liked that, but I also can’t say i wanted to hear whatever all that just was.” Gakushu says.

“Believe me, you don’t want to know how much she went into detail just now.” Nagisa says simply. 

“Anyways! Karma, where we goin’?” Rio asks. 

“You’ll see soon~ it’s gonna be a bit of a walk if we can’t fit everyone in the car.” Karma answers.

“Sounds like a fun mystery. Before we go, bitch sensei, was there anything else you wanted to tell us? It seems kind of odd that you’d come all this way to find us…” Nagisa says

Gakushu could’ve swore he caught a slight panic in the woman’s eyes before she waves a hand and says, “What, can’t I just come see what you guys are up to in person? I don’t always owe you guys a reason for the shit I do. Let’s just get out of here! This place is making me sad…” 

“Well, if you say so…” Nagisa replies somewhat quietly. 

After that, the group begins their descent down the mountain, Karma leading the charge while keeping everyone entertained, and poking fun at Irina. It was enough to keep everyone smiling and distracted. That was another admirable trait of Karma’s - his ability to take charge and keep all eyes on him. That being said, Gakushu couldn’t help but keep thinking about time. He guesses his time is going to be unexpectedly swallowed by Karma’s surprise plans. He guesses it was fine, but he wishes he was at least given a bit of a warning…

Next thing he knows, Gakushu is snapped out of his thoughts by a sudden hand on his shoulder. The suddenness was enough to make him jump, and reflexively stop short, causing a bit of a crash. He even made a small gasping noise, much to his embarrassment.

“Whoops, sorry about that… I’ve got a bit of a habit of spooking people like that.” oh, thank goodness, it was just Nagisa. “Uh, do you think i could talk to you for a bit?” 

“Sure. What’s wrong?” Gakushu asked as he fell in line with Nagisa at the back of the group. He wanted to act like Nagisa didn’t just scare the shit out of him.

“Well, not much really… I think it’s pretty cool that Karma’s taking us all out somewhere, and this whole visit has been fun, but… I think you saw that look Bitch sensei had about her too, right?” Nagisa says.

“A quick moment of shock? Yeah. I saw that… what could she be up to? You’re the one that knows her.” Gakushu answers.

“Well, pretty much everyone from E class has each other’s numbers. If she wanted to know how we were doing, with the type of person she is, she wouldn’t be here in person unless something was really wrong. She’s definitely trying to hide what’s going on. And any sort of surprise party is definitely a stretch… even Karma was surprised she was here, and you know he and Rio would be in on anything she had planned.” Nagisa explains.

“I see. So her being here wasn’t planned in the slightest. That is quite fishy… and from what my father has mentioned after the incident, your other teacher, Mr. Karasuma, works for the government. It could be any number of things she’s come to protect you from. Or something.” Gakushu says. 

Nagisa nods, “She’s the more inconspicuous of the two of them to come around, and if Karasuma were here then you’d know right away something terrible was happening. It might be a bit tough to get her to crack, even if it’s obvious she’s hiding something she might not open up. It could be anything from the loose ends a mad scientist left lying around to maybe investigating something Korosensei left behind.” 

“...Korosensei?” Gakushu repeats questioningly.

“Oh! That was what we called the monster up here. The media really played up the whole thing, he was actually really sweet and kind… I don’t think any of us would be where we are without him.” Nagisa explains. 

“Huh. Father didn’t reveal much, even when I asked about him. What kind of things could he leave lying around?” Gakushu asks.

“Oh, you’d be surprised. He was able to move at mach 20. He could’ve hid plenty of surprises without any of us knowing. Sometimes I like to think a clone of him is somewhere out there, and there’s some instructions he left somewhere to find it… but that’s wishful thinking. We only found out he likely wouldn’t explode too late into procedures and with the .01 percentage, i guess its too much of a risk. But I could still dream there’s a book out there, with classmate names representing their seating numbers set in a binary arrangement that when decoded would reveal a secret message about a hidden location in which his legacy survives in.” Nagisa rambles.

“Huh. you should write a novel, it would be a bestseller.” Gakushu decides to respond.

“Thanks. But yeah, a logical conclusion would be to assume our mystery is a threat. We worked with assassins too, but I don’t think anybody’s going to attack us. Believe it or not, many assassins out there have a ‘no killing children’ policy. Most of them anyway, there’s one or two out there that really see themselves, then everyone else is subhuman.” Nagisa says.

“In that case, I hope it’s nothing much to worry about. It sounds like you have a limited pool of enemies that could resurface. But if you do find its an overwhelming old enemy, I’ll do anything in my power to support you guys. I wouldn’t want any of you dying on me or something.” Gakushu says.

Nagisa smiles and says, “Thanks… but let’s not worry too much. Just tell me if you over hear her saying anything important sounding, okay? That’s all I’d like you to do for me.” 

“Will do.” Gakushu replies, smiling a bit himself. 

The deal is sealed with a little fistbump just before Karma calls out to them, pulling the two back into the conversation. A little walking later leads them off the mountain and to the school’s parking lot. Then they all cram into Rio’s car, leaving Irina to start up her own car and follow. Gakushu ended up having to sort of sit on someone’s lap, and that someone had to be Karma since Rio was driving, Kayano and Nagisa were a bit too small, and Okuda just wouldn’t be comfortable with it. Gakushu was very embarrassed at first, but he wouldn’t let himself be left in the dust with Irina. He begrudgingly sits, trying his best to keep his skirt well-adjusted. God, he had forgotten he was wearing that until that very moment! But he wouldn’t let this bother him, his rival challenged him to wear this, and he’d do it with no issues.

Karma then sits his head on Gakushu’s shoulder about half way into the ride and asks, “So, how’s the ride?” 

“I don’t see why I've got to be the one on your lap. Surely it would’ve been a cozier arrangement if one of your shorter friends was in my place.” Gakushu answers, trying not to blush.

“Sorry! I called shotgun. forever!” Kayano reasons from the front. 

“I’m the only bitch in this car that can drive besides you. And it’s my car, so you’re not getting the driver’s spot anytime soon.” Rio explains.

“I don’t like being touched very much…” Okuda explains.

“Sorry Gakushu. I’ll take the lap space on the ride back, okay?” Nagisa says.

Gakushu huffs, “Whatever. I suppose it doesn’t matter that much in the end as long as we get to our destination.”

“So you’re cool with this then?” Karma asks.

“Whatever.” Gakushu repeats, choosing to look out the window instead of meeting anybody’s eyes.

“Not an answer, but I think I understand~” Karma says.

Karma then proceeds to pet Gakushu on the head, a gesture that he would’ve protested loudly if it didn’t oddly feel really nice. It passes his mind for a moment, as he sits in silence staring at the rapid moving scenery while the others in the car talk, how different things have been. Where he’d usually be working in solitude, studying over and over and engaging in every memory trick known to man, he was on his way to a surprise with a car full of chaotic and unique people. The kind of people his father would’ve disowned him for hanging out with. It almost felt wrong in some ways, like he was defying a hundred hidden rules, and that did make him nervous, but he was much more invested in what was going to happen. Besides, he defied the stupid hidden rules on his own accord - he only needed a bit of a rough push from Karma and Nagisa to get set on this direction. 

And that was another thing - as he was starting to calm down thanks to the excessive petting, he felt he was lucky for them to have stepped into his life. As lucky as he was to at least have the big 5. No, maybe even more.

Without those in E class, his relations to his friend group would have remained cold, strictly business. Without Karma and his friends, there would be no challenges that he adored. Without them, he wouldn’t find the strength to question himself, and his whole wouldn’t be as interesting as it was with them. He was very, very lucky to have those friends.

Was it right to call Karma a friend? Well, he did state he thought of Gakushu as a friend. It wasn’t out of the realm of possibility. And he could count Nagisa as one too, both of them having been such big supporters. And the rest of those in this car with him? Well, solid allies at least. Maybe. He smiles to himself, sort of wondering why he teared up while doing all this deep thinking.But it was nice to have deep thoughts that didn’t revolve around troublesome things.

He closes his eyes a bit, still aware of the warmth on his head just a little bit as he lets the pleasant thoughts keep him occupied.

He hears someone snicker a bit. It’s just enough to break him out of those thoughts and place his attention back on those in the car. Was he sitting differently from before, or was he just imagining that? He blinks slowly and looks over at the others.

“What’s so funny?” Gakushu asked.

“You fell asleep.” Nagisa answers.

“I guess your hair is a bit of a weakness for you!” Karma says.

“What?! No I didn’t! I-It’s not!!” Asano protests, that blush showing its face once more. 

_ Gakushu Asano’s weakness #5: sensitive scalp. Gentle petting is enough to put him to sleep! _

“So you were just laying against Karma on purpose then? I didn’t think you had the guts!” Kayano says.

Karma giggles deviously and Gakushuu is now too flustered to do or say anything beyond some distressed hand movements and attempts to find the right words. In the end, he just hides his face in his hands and accepts that he’s been backed into a corner wordwise.

“Okay, I think he’s had enough teasing for the ride… Karma, how long until we get to the surprise?” Nagisa asks.

He answers, “Should only be about five more minutes. I think you’re all gonna like this.” Karma says.

Once they get to a proper parking space, it’s just a short walk to a karaoke place. Everyone was surprised, but also pretty happy that Karma didn’t pull them into some sort of prank or confrontation with a group of troublemakers. Perhaps the most excited of all was Gakushu, who really enjoyed music and singing as a little side hobby. His prior embarrassment was already leaving and nobody seemed to bring that up, especially when Irina stomps up to the group, angry they didn’t exactly wait for her. Everyone shrugs it off and heads inside, getting a room, ordering some food, then picking out some songs.

As Gakushu carefully browsed his selections, he felt himself get nudged by Karma. Karma is giving him his evil smile as he shows him a special little song. 

“I dare you to sing this~” Karma says.

And of course, without even really looking at the song Gakushu replies, “Dare accepted.” 

Of course, Gakushu offers to be the first to sing. He takes the microphone and stands proudly, tapping his fingers to the beat as the song starts up. He’s kind of surprising everyone with how animated he’s getting; nobody ever thought that the super serious and sinister-feeling Gakushu would ever let loose like this. 

But nevertheless, everyone enjoyed his performance and cheered him on. Kayano can’t help but give the E-Class group chat some shots and commentary of what’s going on, Okuda happily slaps the table to the beat, Rio does her usual photography and giggling, and Karma and Nagisa also help keep the beat, chiming in whenever the time felt right with the melody. 

At times like these, Gakushu felt carefree. As he sang away the stress of yesterday, he really did feel like a rockstar. With his newfound allies hyping him up, and his already perfectly trained voice, nothing could compare to how good he felt in that very moment. Even if it were one of those odd songs, done as a dare, he didn’t care, he was showing off his talent. As the song reaches its end, he stands up on the table and delivers the last verses, and sings them with passion. And as it ends, he stops, passes the microphone on, then resumes his usual demeanor, but with a satisfied smile.

“Did that meet your expectations?” Gakushu asked once he was seated next to Karma.

“You did better than I ever thought possible for an on the fly dare. It also proves you’ve listened to such a song before… and it’s pretty surprising. But anyways, nice job~” Karma says.

“You were amazing!” Nagisa says. 

“Yeah yeah he was pretty good. But now it’s my turn!” Rio says, stepping up and picking up the microphone.

The song she chose was another one meant to lighten the mood, and she didn’t try to sing well - in fact, she joked around and made her pals laugh the whole song, with gentle pokes and grand displays, she even banged her leg on the table by accident during her fooling around, prompting the others to burst into laughter (save for Okuda, who immediately asks if she’s okay and is met with more singing). All in all, she had fun with her turn and that’s what mattered. Once her turn ends, she tackles the two other girls and hugs them, giggles being shared all around.

Next up, Kayano was up to sing. Of course, due to her training as an actress, her song was elegant and her singing was beautiful. It made everyone feel somewhat relaxed, and Rio whistles at her and okuda gets blushy. She lets her hair down and Rio cheers in response! Everyone seems to be making theatrical performances now, and Kayano’s acting skills help her really drive home the tone of her song as everyone helps keep the beat. Once the song ends, she receives a standing ovation, even from Irina who had been sitting quietly for the most part.

Karma is up next to sing, and the song he chose is quite intense, but he’s an expert at keeping the melody and timing, especially when parts of it got fast paced. Gakushu and Nagisa couldn’t quite take their eyes off of him. There wasn’t much dancing around, his voice was good enough to keep all eyes on him, but when it came to eye contact with that red-haired demon boy, Gakushu found himself getting flustered again, stuck between thoughts telling him to look away quickly and the kind that dare him not to look away for fear of losing some unseen battle. He wasn’t sure how anyone could just casually meet that gaze - he wondered how Nagisa does it… does he get a similar feeling? 

But wait, Nagisa’s in love with him, it’s not a rivalry thing like their relationship, he thinks! He takes a look over at the boy in question, and finds a stare looking back at Karma with a similar intensity to Karma’s eyes. Not exactly a mischievous gaze, but… a gaze that was full of love. Ah, so that’s how this game goes, just stare harder! It kind of made him feel warm inside to see such a thing. The adoration they had for each other was so nice… he wondered why they were so blind to each other’s love. And then, he wondered why he didn’t just bite the bullet and tell them both their feelings were accepted. Maybe it was the whole being trusted thing. But before he lets it get to him, Gakushu ends up being pulled back into Karma’s song.

Next, it was time for Nagisa to sing. Gakushu couldn’t help but think about how Nagisa’s voice was so sweet… well, he’s pretty sure that voice had the whole room feeling that way. It was similar to the way Karma’s had him feeling, except that he caught him off guard when the song began to pick up into something more intense. It was safe to say that Nagisa and Karma were definitely on par with each other in terms of singing. It made him wish to hear what a duet between the boys would sound like… in fact, he could sort of imagine it. 

Nagisa wasn’t one for moving around during his performance either - he seemed to be trying his best to stay confident, and keep his voice flowing as it did, and not run out of breath. Before he knew it, the end of the song had snuck up on them, and it left him wanting more. This time, he hadn’t even realized how fixated he was on the boy the whole time until the end had snapped him out of it. 

Next up it was okuda, who chose a sort of cutsey song for herself and before the song begins, she requested to not be stared at too much. Even with those there heeding her request, her voice was still shaky and it was hard for her to hold notes. It was a good song choice, but she was still very shy. Regardless, everyone was nice and applauded her to help boost her confidence.

“That was fun~ so, shall we do some duets? Or maybe the lady in the corner wants to sing us a tune?” Karma says, glancing over at Irina.

“No thanks.” She says flatly, taking another sip of the no doubt alcoholic drink she ordered.

“Aww really? I would’ve thought you’d like to sing for us!” Kayano says.

“Yeah! Why not Miss Bitch?” Rio says.

“Because it’s kind of stupid and not my thing.” Irina responds. Wow, her glass was full a second ago!

This statement also makes everyone a bit mad at her. 

“So did you come here just to drink and watch us like a creep?” Gakushu asks icily.

Irina shrugs in response and says, “Is what it is.”   
  
“At least sing something if you’re going to be boring. I’m starting to get why everyone’s calling you miss Bitch.” Gakushu says.

Nagisa puts a hand on his shoulder and says, “Don’t get worked up over it. If she wants to be left out, let her be…”   


She gets up and walks to the door, saying, “God, where is that food guy when you need him? I want another drink…” 

The room is a bit silent as she leaves, and everyone can tell Gakushu is a bit pissed with her, having not become accustomed to her abrupt nature. 

“Hey Nagisa, we should sneak some hot sauce into her glass when she gets more. I’ve got some extra spicy stuff as always~” Karma says, taking out a small sauce packet from his pocket.

“Karma, that’s so rude! I’d never.” Nagisa says, taking the sauce packet from him and pocketing it.

The two giggle a bit, and Gakushu stands up. “If I wanted a bored adult giving half-assed comments and adding nothing of value to the group, I would’ve stayed at home. Though a prank sounds fun i want to know just why she’s here if she’s going to do nothing but drink until she’s unable to drive.”

“Ah, don’t bother with it! She’s probably just lonely. Betcha her husband is as emotionally constipated as always and not giving her as much attention as she’d like. That’s probably it.” Rio says, waving a hand dismissively.

Even so, as he and Nagisa exchange looks, he walks to the door and says, “You guys can go ahead and pick out a song for me. I can sing anything, and you can come get me if i get wrapped up in something and haven’t returned in time.” 

“Suit yourself. We’ll pick something niiice and challenging for you!” Karma says.

Gakushu exits the room and begins to follow Irina. How strange! Rather than loudly flagging down staff like he expected, she had been walking straight for a quiet area, Cell phone in hand. Now that was suspicious… rather than presently stomping up to her and scolding her like planned, Gakushu figures now would be a time to stealth it up and see just what the hell she was doing. One of his two hypotheses was that she was having a friend bring her more alcohol, but hey, if that’s the case he can go right back to the scolding plan.

She walked outside, to the left of the building where the small lot was, holding the phone between her cheek and shoulder as she pulls a lighter and cigarettes from her pockets. Classy. Once she rounds the bend, Gakushu stays as close to listening range as possible at the corner. He was pretty sure that this private spot to call was suspicious. Or maybe he spent too much time trying to snoop on his dad and he was about to hear her make a very pointless call! He just hoped he wouldn’t hear anything that would make him wanna scream.

“Ah, Karasuma sweetie! You picked up right away~!” Irina says cheerily, then a pause before she says flatly, “Wow, straight to the point as always, huh… such a stick in the mud, why don’t you ask me how my day was?” 

...that’s starting to sound like a pointless conversation. But he has a gut feeling that maybe there was more than meets the eye. Or ear in this case. In order to not make eye contact with the people gawking at his skirt while they pass, he brings his phone out to look like he’s busy.

“Well i found them at the old grounds, and it was the first place I checked. Everyone’s fine and we’re at a Karaoke place despite their tries to lose me. But luckily they don’t suspect anything’s wrong.”

What could be wrong in this case, he wonders?

“No, Nagisa hasn’t figured out anything, No, there’s been no signs of that fat bastard around. Yet, at least. I’m surprised, with his most hated back in town just in time for his escape. Believe me, I'd let you know right away if I saw anything. Yep, even did quick poison tests on all the drinks while they were singing! I gotta tell you, this detector polish is the best thing science has come up with yet~ that and Kayano’s such a good, unknowing distraction…”

Now  _ that _ is what he was waiting for. He knew something was amiss! And it sounds like some sort of pedophile is after his friends. And due to what he knows, a government enemy criminal pedophile. Something of that nature. Now he needed to know more…

But just before he could, some boys passing by spotted him, walked over, and did what annoying passersby do best: Loudly start attempting to flirt with him.

“Hey there cutie! Ya waitin’ for your pals?” one of them says, and Gakushu just keeps his eyes on his phone, hoping that the guy was talking to someone else. 

Nope, he had no such luck. One of the guys put a hand by his head and goes, “Hey, didja hear us? No need to be coy, doll~”

Did they think he was a girl? Hmm, a small taste of what Nagisa’s life has been like and it already irritated him a bit. He glances up at the guys surrounding him, as his focus is broken and Irina’s voice starts to become background noise.

“Not being coy, I was in the middle of minding my own business before you decided to invade my personal space. I’d appreciate if you leave, i have no time for this.” Gakushu says flatly, keeping his voice quiet in an attempt to stay out of Irina’s radar. It made him sound a bit more feminine than he meant to.

In short, they hadn’t picked up on the fact that he was a guy and trying to stay invisible. So they continue harassing him.

“Oh come on! Don’t be like that. That little skirt’s just an invitation for trouble… we’re only lookin after ya!”   


“Maybe we’ll go if you give us a lil’ smile, yeah?”

“I don’t see any boyfriend around, maybe you should just ditch him and hang with us~” 

Oh, now he was angry! 

Not to mention Irina had definitely heard the commotion and hung up on Karasuma. She had a bit of an eye twitch now. Of course, she should’ve expected Nagisa to follow her! He’s as quiet as a mouse and reads people like open books on vibes alone. Well, too bad for him, his cover was blown by his charm. She’ll have to scold him for this…

She rounds the corner, expecting Nagisa to be there in need of rescue, but an entirely different surprise awaited her. There Karma’s classmate stood, three passed out boys propped up on the nearby bench as he leaned against the wall, looking agitated. Good lord, he was as intense as the old principal! She was just grateful there seemed to be no bloodshed, barely even a bruise on either party.

“What are you doing out here kid?” Irina questions him.

“It’s Gakushu. And what does it look like? I’m wearing a skirt, and getting harassed by annoying passersby.” He answered.

“Don’t forget you’re getting caught eavesdropping. What did you hear you little shit?” Irina asked.

“Enough to fear for the safety of my friends. I’m planning on ordering some security as soon as possible.” Gakushu says.

“Well don’t! This is government business and the more you set up the more this guy’ll know. The fucker used to be a war vet or something, and used to be in with us, he’d take your security and crush it with one squeeze of his fist! Like an old-fashioned airbag confetti popper. You don’t wanna get wrapped up in this, just forget what you heard.” Irina says.

“I don’t think I could forget… but I do want to help my friends be safe. I can’t just magically not remember this shit about a strong bone snapping pedo. Even Nagisa thought it was odd that you came to see us so suddenly.” Gakushu says. 

“Alright fine…” Irina says, rubbing her temples a bit as she continues, “You’re going to be my little helper, then. You seem more capable of self defense than i thought, at least, and you’re less suspicious than me. But you have to swear to me that you won’t say anything, this is for their sake. You can’t tell because they’ll do something stupid, and we don’t want that.” 

“Understood. Give me the details of this person, please.” Gakushu says. 

Irina pulls up the details on her phone, their name, face, everything. Gakushu squints at the creepy face.

“It’s that gym teacher my father gave the pink slip for abusing students. I’ve heard about him before…” Gakushu says, scrolling through the file at lightning speed, then saying, “I had no idea that crazy bastard hired assassins to poison the E classers on that vacation… and that Nagisa beat him in a fight twice. I would’ve never guessed…”

“Yeah, that’s Nagisa for you. Between you and me, Karasuma was sure that Nagisa was going to end up being the next biggest assassin. He’s not to be underestimated, he may be small but that doesn’t mean you can’t sneak up on someone and stab them.” Irina stated casually.

Now that sort of gave Gakushu chills. The unexpected prowess was one thing, but now the whole bit of having enough bloodlust to be an assassin… he was glad to be on the good side. It made him want to pay more attention. He gives the phone back to Irina, and turns around to head inside.

“That’s… very interesting. I’ll help you keep them safe.” Gakushu says.

“Yeah, that’s good and all, but don’t even hint that you know something more than the whole octopus monster event broadcasted. You can’t tell anyone, even those outside of the situation because its a fucking dangerous bastard. And if Nagisa or Karma find out this guy’s out there, looking for  _ an _ y of them, they’re going to seek him out actively and you just can’t have that! They may get captured or killed, because he  _ expects _ them to come to him once they find out he’s around again. So you can't-”

“I  _ get _ it. No need to drill it in, I’m not going to let them know. Not even Nagisa, I’m capable of lying well. Now be quiet before you let the secret out because you blabbered on about it.” Gakushu says. 

“Good. I’m gonna finish my cigarette, now go back inside before you’re missed.” Irina says. 

Gakushu nods and heads in. He takes a pitstop at the vending machine for a soda, because all of this was a lot to get dumped on him. It definitely put him on edge, and the last thing he needed atop this whole matchmaking thing was another lie to bear on his shoulders. As the soda clunks down into the opening, he can’t help but calculate all the precautions he will have to take, between vigilance, making time in his schedule, maybe even setting up cameras in the woods along the trail. He’d have to get the unquestioning help of the other big 5 for this. Pay them as much as it takes to shut up about it. Look into types of batteries, maybe solar powered options… and not to mention, this all points to him having to ask his father for an increase in lessons dealing in physical workouts and defense. He’s sure his father would be glad to arrange things like that for him. He grabs his soda, opens the tab-

And the tap on his shoulder made him instantly spin around and aim a punch up, swinging right over Nagisa’s head. Now his heart was racing, when did he get there?!

“Oh, sorry! I didn’t mean to scare you, heheh…” Nagisa says, putting his hand back down at his side.

Irina was right - you didn’t need your fists to give someone a fucking heart attack!

“It’s… it’s okay. You’re very quiet…” Gakushu says, somewhat awkwardly taking a sip of his drink and trying to not seem as on edge as he was. That was the second time today!

“Yeah, I get that a lot… anyways, did your little eavesdropping adventure bring anything interesting? Maybe… the reason she’s here?” Nagisa asked.

“It was probably up there with one of the worst mistakes I could make. Let’s not talk about it… Rio and the others were right, unfortunately.” Gakushu said simply.

“Aw, that bad huh? Well, at least we can help you forget it… do you wanna sing a song with Karma and I?” Nagisa asks.

Ooh, that was a pleasant surprise. “Sure… but i wouldn’t want to intrude if you two were planning on a duet.” Gakushu says before taking a sip of his drink. 

“Don’t worry about it, Karma suggested we attempt a song with you, and I picked the music. It’ll be so fun you’ll forget whatever awful thing you heard!” Nagisa says with a smile.

“Well if you insist. I’m so happy to sing, the memory’s already fading…” Gakushu says.

Nagisa smiles at him, and holds out his hand. Gakushu, after figuring out what he wanted, takes it, and lets himself be led back to the room. If only that were true… his mind was still racing, trying to think of every precaution he could take without bringing the true issue to light. In an attempt to prevent his nerves from being noticed, he tightens his grip on his drink. He couldn’t help but think up all the possible bad endings to this as well, because once his mind starts, it won’t stop. This was going to drive him crazy…

“Hey, Gakushu… you seem a little nervous.” Nagisa says. 

“That’s ridiculous. I’m never nervous.” is what he wanted to say, but his voice failed to work. He simply shrugged his shoulders. It was probably better to remain vague than give even a white lie in Nagisa’s presence. 

“Well, don’t worry. Nobody’s gonna make fun of you, even if you mess up a bit. We’re all here to have fun, okay? You look great, and I know no matter what that you’re gonna be great.” Nagisa says. 

He couldn’t help but smile at that. Nagisa really was too kind...

“Thanks, Nagisa.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a list of the songs they're implied to sing! you can really think of them as singing whatever you want, hence why i went vague with descriptions of the songs, but these are some little choice ones. all on YT as well, so easy to look up!
> 
> Gakushu: World is Mine, by Hatsune Miku  
> Rio: Hakuna Matata, from the lion king  
> Kayano: the opening to Neon Genesis Evangelion  
> Karma: Bloody Stream, By Koda (aka the opening for part 2 of JJBA)  
> Nagisa: True Kinda Love (from the steven universe movie)  
> Okuda: 99 by MOB CHOIR (the mob psycho 100 opening)  
> what Nagisa, Karma and Gakushu all sang together: All Things Must Die - rwby soundtrack (tbh the video got deleted on this one but i remember listening to that a lot while trying to write this chapter? so it must be)  
> Bonus, for if the girls sang a song together: Magia (specifically the cover by AmaLee) - Puella Magi Madoka Magica
> 
> and that's that! enjoy!


	5. Learning From The Best!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If Gakushu is going to prepare for this new threat on top of everything else, it's best he gets some pointers from an expert at fighting and self defense. Who better than a certain blue haired teacher-to-be? surely, that's not that suspicious...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter is quite bittersweet! beware for parental abuse mentions.

Some days pass by. From now on, it seems like Nagisa and Karma are slowly getting more free time to hang out. More and more plans are being made, and things seem to be going well. Gakushu makes helpful suggestions to the both of them, keeping nagisa updated on whether or not Karma’s tastes have changed on gifts, and Gakushu offering similar information on Nagisa to Karma. The little exchanges were pleasant, and also made him feel better about life.

But then, the knowledge of an evil murderous fat bastard would invade, and he’d be restless again. His sleep schedule had begun to slightly destabilize again, because he couldn’t stop thinking of precautions he should take. And he couldn’t tell anyone, really - this was a weight he had to bear on his own… mostly. The one support he had on this was, unfortunately, his father, who is barely any sort of company. For a guy that’s perfect at everything, apparently, you’d think he’d be an expert at at least faking sympathy, maybe a solid pep talk other than, “You must be the best, you have no choice.” 

There was also Irina, who gave him updates here and there, letting him know what was what. As soon as she asks how he’s doing, in a fit of anger over the whole dad not knowing how to dad at all thing, he expressed how dearly he hates training with him and wishes he could actually strangle him. 

The advice she gave?

“Oh, Nagisa can teach you that stuff. Go ahead and learn from him.” 

This felt extremely suspicious, but nonetheless, he tried to play it cool. It was believable to just want to know without having to deal with his dad. He was surprised when Nagisa got extremely excited about teaching him, offered to teach him how to use a knife on top of the self-defense skills, and even said they could do it in a video chat. Gakushu was really excited about this, but at the same time there was a bit of an underlying guilt still eating at him. 

Even so, there was no stopping what was set in motion. As he waited for Nagisa to get online, he tapped out a little rhythm on the sides of his laptop to keep his mind busy. He just wanted to be calm, get these lessons, and perfect what he’s being taught. Rather than focus on lies and that bastard Takaoka, he kept himself on the thoughts of how nice it was that Nagisa was offering to teach. He wanted to prepare a thank-you gift… but that would have to be for later. He already knew the things that nagisa liked, thanks to all the info gathering and exchanging, so he was sure he could pick out something nice. Maybe he could commission a snake plush, one that’s light blue with a teal fade on the ends of the scales… blue eyes… generally just something that looks like Nagisa. Or perhaps a nice little statue of a serpent-like dragon with such features. Or maybe just pay him, you can’t go wrong there…

Then, a notification sound goes off from the computer, breaking him from his whirling thoughts and causing him to smile a bit. Nagisa was finally online.

Nagisa: Sorry for the wait! Are you ready to begin?

Gakushu: Yes. Don’t worry about it, and thank you for teaching me this.

Nagisa: np! I can at least teach you the basics on a video call. Otherwise we should meet up irl and go for it, i’ve still got some rubber knives to use. There’s nothing like getting experience from a real fight!

Gakushu: alright. Let’s get through the lesson first, then figure out a date. 

Nagisa: sounds good. Let’s get this call started!

With that, the call is commenced. They spend a moment chatting and making sure either side of their connection is secure. When Nagisa saw all that Gakushu had set up for the practice, including a punching bag for practice stabs, he was pretty surprised. Could there be something more at work here, or was this just Gakushu being Gakushu, always prepared to the fullest for anything that may come? He’d have to pay close attention, he figured.

“Good to see you’re so prepared… you’re really on a self-defense kick, huh?” Nagisa says. 

“You could say that. Always nice to be prepared, isn’t it?” Gakushu says with a confident smile. 

“Yeah. You’re not being threatened by anybody, are you?” Nagisa says, watching for his reaction closely. 

“No. But i figure its best to be prepared. Who knows when I’ll say the wrong thing… and attract some bad attention.” Gakushu says. 

Nagisa takes note of every little way he said that. His voice was normal, he didn’t shift his weight or shrink back, but he does look away momentarily, so quickly he could’ve missed it if he blinked. This could just be a random twitch, he knows, but he figures he’d keep a careful eye out and test the theory carefully. The sudden ask had made Gakushu put his guard up, that much he could tell, and he knew the guy was probably well versed in lying, especially when he was aware that someone was trying to get the truth out of him.

As both of them were sons of a very similar kind of monster, Lying, hiding, and reading expressions were things you picked up quickly to survive. They both sensed tension. Gakushu was tense, and Nagisa was going to have to give the reel a bit of slack, so to speak. Perhaps he wouldn’t call him out today, if he were to catch him in a lie, but he would have to play cards carefully and ease him into a confession.

But if Gakushu were in some sort of big danger, of course Nagisa would want to help him as quickly as possible. If he were right, and Gakushu was facing something terrible enough to need to know how to potentially Kill someone, well… he couldn’t have that. He’d want to find out and get rid of the problem as quickly as possible, because nobody needed such callosal problems on top of schoolwork. 

Of course, during all this thinking, he could teach while he kept his thoughts to himself. He kept all these little thoughts in the back of his mind as he corrects Gakushu about his form, show him ways to hold the knife and make swift, clean cuts. Correcting him on his stance and balance, here and there. There weren’t many times that he had to correct Gakushu - he was very good at picking things up. The whole training bit breezed by, and Nagisa couldn’t help but feel proud of him. He decides to conclude the lesson when he sees that Gakushu has aced the basics and seemed to have enough of it.

“Alright, that’s it for now. You did well!” Nagisa says, moving back to where his laptop was stationed.

“Oh? That quickly?” Gakushu asks.

“Uhm… we spent like two hours going through the basics. It’s better to do some face to face sparring, but this was basics. How long did your father take to teach you?” Nagisa asks.

“He spent double the time criticizing my stance, and my strokes can’t even be a millimeter off. Are you sure we’re done?” Gakushu asks.

And Nagisa could tell that wasn’t a joke. He said it so casually, like that’s how it was with everything… and the glance he remembers from before didn’t happen, it was clear eye contact through and through. That kind of made Nagisa’s anger spike.

“Well, let’s think of it like this - he’s hindering you by putting too much emphasis on one aspect of your stabbing. If you’re too busy thinking about the mathematics and trajectory that can’t be done on a second’s notice, you’re going to get punched or stabbed before you can do anything. Sure, it’s good to work on motions, but being too in your own head is no good, and it makes you hesitate. Does that make sense?” Nagisa explained patiently.

“Hmm… I’ve… never thought about it like that. But it does make sense.” Gakushu says. 

“Yeah… anyways, how have things been? How did midterms go? I hear from Karma they were even tougher this year. Must’ve been a cake walk for you two, right?” Nagisa says, while searching his thoughts for something he knows the true answer of that Gakushu would likely lie about.

Gakushu is practically beaming with pride as he says, “Of course it was~ and that’s no thanks to my father, of course. I had to stay over at Karma’s so he wouldn’t manipulate me into hurting my new routine. It’s nice to have someone nearby that would allow the temporary move-in.”

That’s it. “You did that on your own? I heard that Karma pretty much had to rescue you from yourself beforehand.” Nagisa says, smiling a bit as he pictures Karma dragging Gakushu off to his house by the shirt collar.

The reaction was a bit bigger this time; Gakushu got blushy, his eyes widening for a moment before he did as he did before, a swift glance to the side then back. “N-no! I can control myself perfectly fine! I didn’t need Karma to do that!” he says.

Nagisa can’t help but laugh a bit at such a clear lie and intense reaction. “I know, I know… but that’s not the story Karma spun. It seems too detailed not to be real.”

“W-well, he’s a liar…” Gakushu says, sounding like he wasn’t even convincing himself. 

That’s true only sometimes. But Nagisa lets it go, letting Gakushu think he’s successfully fooled him. “Yeah, I guess so. I mean, the whole situation did sound crazy…” 

With this, they spend more time talking with each other, time passing them by quickly. They talked about all sorts of things, the upsetting monster-parent parallels, about Karma and the honest, unexpected sweetness he tends to offer, and the delivery of skirts of course. According to Gakushu, they found their way to him quickly and he had to keep the box far away from his dad’s curious eyes. 

And of course, on Gakushu’s end, he had a very peaceful time listening to what Nagisa had to say. Nagisa had one of those personalities that pulled you in, and made you care for him. He was such a sweet and positive person… and such a personality was something he wasn’t so used to. And in a way, it made him realize how often he sort of speaks to himself in self-deprecating way. Each time he called himself stupid or even momentarily berated himself over worrying, Nagisa would always stop him.

“Hey, don’t say that! You’re doing your best, aren’t you?” 

“It’s okay to slow down.” 

“Don’t let that get to you. It’s gonna be okay.” 

Such a flow of gentle positivity… was very foreign. He was used to karma’s brand, which was joking with a touch of genuine care, but this was a pure expression of compassion. He found himself with a steady blush throughout the conversation. 

Eventually, Nagisa checked his clock, and worry passes over his face. “Shoot! It’s gotten so late already… It was really fun to talk with you like this, Gakushu, but i have to get ready for tomorrow… you don’t mind ending the call here, right?” he asks.

Gakushu shakes his head. “I don’t mind at all. It was a pleasure to train and talk with you, Nagisa. You’re going to be an excellent teacher.” He replies.

That brings a big smile to Nagisa’s face. “Thanks, Gakushu. I’ll text you later when i can, okay?”

“Okay.” 

“Bye!”

“Goodbye.” 

After the call ends, and Gakushu sits in silence for a few moments. Was it… normal to just instantly miss someone?

Of course it was, if it were someone like Nagisa. He was such a nice person, anyone would want to be around that.

And anything that hates such a gentle person is surely evil… 

That threat is coming back into his mind. Those bad feelings coming back with the silence were enough to make him want to cry… so he decides to quickly drown out the silence with music, grabbing his headphones from the drawer, plugging them into his laptop, and then putting his songs to random. He put more effort into thinking of the two that were making him happiest as of late, writing in his journal, feeling like nothing else would be right to do. He wanted to keep feeling that happy moment, thinking about such sweet friends and rivals… how nice it was to be around them, and the cheer and warmth they radiated.

Along with these thoughts recorded in that journal, he wrote down key points he remembered from Nagisa’s lesson. After this, he hides the journal away for another day, in its lockbox stored behind his nearby dresser. He had a few more bits of homework to complete before it was time to rest…

…

_ Gakushu now finds himself in a very real feeling dream. The air is cold, and he is in his bed, staring up at the ceiling with his workbook open on his chest. Oh shit, it was morning. He guessed he better get up. He sits up, the workbook falling away and suddenly gone, and he stretches a bit as he swings his legs over the side. _

_ The floor seemed to ripple beneath his feet, and looked more like the sky than the floor he remembers, but his dreaming mind finds nothing wrong. The pen he had been using still in hand, he walks to the door and finds it locked tight. He sighs - his immediate thought is that his dad blocked the door. Again. Great. _

_ He turns around, and something flies into his face, startling him and causing him to stumble. When it moves, he figures out quickly that its a butterfly. He carefully moves the thing away from his eyes, marvels at the wings it had for a moment. Such a pretty light blue on the top side, and a brilliant deep red on the bottom side… he wasn’t sure why, but he felt pretty fond of it. He closes his hands around the small creature and looks ahead. _

_ There’s another way out… the balcony. It’s a short and liveable fall to the gardens below… besides, he figured the butterfly would be happier out in the garden. He wanders over to the balcony, standing on the guard rail. The fall looks a bit bigger than he remembered, so it sort of scares him a bit. Maybe he shouldn’t do this… _

_ And then, the sound of his door being slammed on. Gakushu whirls around, looking at the way darkness had begun to seep through the door. That was way more intimidating than the fall in that moment, and he couldn’t help but feel that whatever that thing was was going to steal away the sweet little butterfly in his hands. As the hinges on the door begins to give, Gakushu steps back, and loses his balance.  _

_ Away he falls, making him brace for impact. The world rushes by, and he hits the bed of flowers below with a horrible sound. But he blinks awake, and his first thought was, “Did I crush the butterfly in my fall?” and after a moment of bracing himself for a whole new hurt, he opens his hands. _

_ In his hands is not one, but two butterflies now. One was red, the other blue, both iridescent with a purplish shine in certain angles of light. He stares at them in awe, overwhelmed with warmth, joy and relief. It was enough to bring tears to his eyes. He stares at them for what feels like an eternity of bliss as they stretched their wings, one resting on each hand. And after that little eternity, the butterflies finally take flight, rising up towards the swirling sky. _

_ He watches them as they go, slowly going from hoping they would come back very soon, to regretting letting them go. Why did it hurt? Why did it feel like he’s gone through so much with those little things…? Why was he was so afraid for them? Was it because of whatever it was behind the door?  _

_ And why has this dream been coming to him so often, in the exact same way, and still hurt the same every time? _

_ … _

Gakushu wakes up cold. He sits upright, discovering that it was just about 4:30AM. He felt a sort of love-hate for that dream. He takes a deep breath, reaches over to his bedside table, and sips the gross bitter tea he had left there. After that, he filed away any of the books he had left out in his sleepy haze and settles back down under his covers. Several minutes pass, along with several attempted sleeping positions… he couldn’t do this.

Too awake to fall back asleep, he reaches for his phone and tries to check up on whatever he missed. Seems his other friends had a conversation while Gakushu was training with Nagisa earlier…

Ren: god another essay

Ren: I hate these things it’s gonna be the death of me

Teppei: How many pages?

Ren: S e v e n

Tomoya: oof

Natsu: F

Ren: it’s supposed to be one page per day of the week i guess? But my teacher this year is a sadist and wants it all tomorrow. I spent all my free time at school trying to get it done but it’s my most hated subject! I can’t write about science! I can write a sonnet or think up a story on the fly or talk about greek gods or god gods but doing this is as easy as chewing thumbtacks

Natsu: i mean i can do it for you

Natsu: for 30 bucks

Ren: wow. This is your peak generosity. You truly are the god of giving Natsuhiko

Ren: guess its time to pull an all-nighter =)

Teppei: where is Asano when you need him?

Tomoya: Boys

Teppei: interesting answer, and probably correct

Natsu: well does anybody have any news on him???

Ren: he’s fine. We’ve talked often enough and in the period of time I didn’t hear from him I asked Karma and his response was to send a picture of Gakushu wearing a butterfly miniskirt and sitting next to Nagisa. Nagisa got a haircut. Then proceed to text ramble for the next hour

Ren: you guys should really check up on him yourselves if you want the news

Natsu: excuse me WHAT

Teppei: Asano… wearing WHAT???

Tomoya: you’ve got to be messing with us Asano wouldn’t be caught dead in a skirt!!!

Ren: [image of Gakushu and Nagisa, both looking very happy as they pick out a song]

Tomoya: oH MY  **GOD**

Teppei: THIS WASN’T A JOKE!?!?!?!

Natsu: i

Natsu: he looks… Good????????????

Natsu: WHY DOES HE PULL OFF EVERYTHING???   
  


Ren: its Asano! Of course he looks nice. And he’s been being better at sleep so that combined with this makes for a real good look.

Teppei: I’m still not over this this is so much to take in

Teppei: Guys… fellas… amigos... do you think…?

Natsu: no fuckin way

Tomoya: i mean… If you say Karma rambled about the both of them for two hours… 😳

Natsu: no

Tomoya: Yes

Ren: i have no idea! Maybe Karma is aware of his own feelings or something

Ren: but i honestly think Asano is kind of. In denial. He’s very recently brought up his plans of getting Karma and Nagisa together… and I just don’t think he’s aware.

Natsu: as an intellectual? A class Ace. As a human with feelings? Just. full on E class idiot. He belongs with them

Teppei: That’s both sweet and insulting at the same time

Tomoya: that does make sense. I wonder if Asano has feelings…

Ren: oh I think he does. For Karma at the very least. I haven’t really asked his thoughts on Nagisa yet.

Teppei: even nagisa is involved here? With asano feels?

Ren: to some undetermined degree, yes. 

Natsu: well aren’t  _ you _ just the asano whisperer! 

Tomoya: well aren’t you just weirdly confronting all the time

Teppei: anyways im gonna go to bed

Tomoya: same

Ren: lucky boys you two are.... Well, i know i’m not fully alone. We’ve all given up on natsuhiko’s whole refusing to sleep till 3am bit

Natsu: stfu

Ren: Never you just don’t take care of yourself

Natsu: sure i do!   


Ren: you don’t! You haven’t bathed since last year or something, you haven’t been to the dentist to fix that PROBLEM in your mouth, there’s something ALIVE in that fucking litter caking the floor of your toxic waste room, and since the new game featuring ~the biggest of tiddy waifu’s~ dropped and its been in my twitter feed for days, i know your wallet’s empty and you’re eating nothing but ramen cups. You’re becoming that dead sad sap from that disgusting weird anime music video you had the nerve to send me a few years back. You didn’t even bother putting your full name into our group chat!

Natsu: is it sad i know what you’re talking about

Ren: TAKE A GUESS.

Ren: I think you just kinda irritate me at this point. One day i’m going to snap, fill a tub with liquid soap, and drown you in it

Ren: time to get that essay done. Asano, when you backread all this, don’t research what I mentioned and just. Think a bit clearer. You’re in love with Karma and it’s so painfully obvious that if you just give him up to the blue boy you’re gonna regret it later

Ren: I’ll be around to see your realization slap you in the face

Ren: or not

Ren: goodnight

Gakushu just sat there, staring. Did he… read that right?

They really thought he was in  _ love _ . With Karma. 

Gakushu blinks a bit. He reads those words over again, unsure if it was really… real.

At first he thought, no, no nonono, that’s not it. He was just someone he was close to. That he wanted to be happy… with a smile that was hard to forget, and even made him smile just remembering it now. It was the whole reason he was setting him up with Nagisa, so he could keep smiling like that… 

He rubs his eyes, and reads those words again. Oh, there’s his sense of getting hit. Like a punch to the heart. The little click that made everything make sense, and make his head just fuzz out. Except for the little him inside his brain placing it all out:

_ That’s why he makes you blush. That’s why you hate the thought of him engaging how he does with you with anybody else. That’s why your brain blanks out sometimes when he gets close to you. That’s why you’d hate for your father to find out you were with him for a week, and lied and said you were with the other big 5, and made them all cover for you. Why else would you want to protect your rival so badly? If it were just an academic rival, you wouldn’t know so much about him. Idiot.  _

As these realizations were shoved into the front of his mind, Gakushu covers his burning face with his hands. Well, shit. Now that that realization is fresh in his mind, the little thoughts of karma were even more mocking. What about Nagisa? He couldn’t just undo what he was doing. He wanted both of them to be happy. Nagisa was too nice and genuine to betray like that. He’s known the guy for an equal amount of time, and  _ admittedly he’s always found him very cute too oh no, _ but then when he started talking to him he’d always leave the conversation feeling better. It was like a perfect balance to Karma’s rather intense style of interactions. Not to mention the whole knowing how to handle a knife thing was cool too… 

He quickly decided he was too tired to be thinking about all this. He curls up with his pillows, grabs his phone one more time, and writes in the chat…

Asano: I hate you for making me think the moment I wake up

Ren: it hit you that hard huh

Asano: shut up I’m sleeping again

Ren: guess we’ll talk in the morning then. Night

…

A few days later, Nagisa prepares to go and meet Gakushu for their training session. He had his old anti-koro knives packed, some old notes he dug up, and his current notepad to take some notes on whatever he felt he should. It always helped to be prepared! And who knows, maybe he’d get to know whatever Gakushu’s secret that’s clearly been messing with him was. With everything necessary packed, Nagisa dawns his little backpack and heads out. 

He heads out to the train station, and from there it’s a short ride and long walk to his old campus, extended a bit longer by the trek up the mountain. He checks his phone for the time - oh, he was quite early! Oh well, nothing to do but wait. He goes over to the door…

...oh? He notices the lock was broken, as if someone forced their way in. 

Now this sort of irritated him. He’d have to talk to someone to get this fixed. But more importantly… who did it? He knows that he and Karma always pick the lock if they want in, and he knows for a fact Gakushu would never do this; he doesn’t come up here without someone else. The more he thought about it, the more it started to unsettle him. More importantly, was this possible thief still near? Nagisa decides to calm himself, and heighten his senses a bit. Observe and listen a bit more. He opens the broken door a crack, gently feeling around for any tripwires, listening and looking for traps set. Once he’s determined nothing is waiting for him, he opens the door quickly, aiming to make the least amount of noise possible.

He moves soundlessly, repeating the same process as he looks around for any more damage, waiting to pick up signs or signals of the intruder. He breathes a sigh of relief when he sees that Korosensei’s room is untouched. A little smile creeps onto his face - of course, nobody would dare go near the monster’s den, not if they knew the stories. He takes some time to remember what the place was like when it had a teacher still speed-grading papers inside it. He missed the liveliness that he brought…

...But now was no time to reminisce. He still had to look around for traps to disarm, or an enemy invading his home away from home. He takes a dusty pair of scissors from the little cup of school supplies sitting on the desk, dusting them off as he moved on. He goes down the rooms one by one, the teacher’s lounge, the room they used for science, and their main classroom was the last to check. He slides the scissors between the doors - no trap once again. He opens the door, eyes scanning the room, looking for changes and disturbances.

This time, he found the rollbook on the teacher’s pedestal open - it was open to the page with the seating chart, and he found that the spot that displayed his seat was blacked out. It wasn’t his specific targeting that made him angry, but the defacing of anything left in such a sacred space. Well, since the intruder defaced his place in the chart, Nagisa figures his seat was the one either defaced or boobytrapped. Nagisa carefully closes the rollbook, giving it a gentle pat before continuing on to his seat. Once again, he slides that trusty pair of scissors into the space where his desk would open up. Nowhere on the outside was defaced, so he assumes the surprise is on the inside of the desk…

As he slides the scissors out, he finds that they have found a wire. He swiftly cuts it, moving back swiftly just in case that was the requirements for a detonation rather than a disarming. Nothing, not even beeping. He breathes out, and carefully opens the desk to see what lies on the inside.

The first thing he noticed was the trap: a grenade set to have its pin pulled when you open the desk. Nagisa scoffs at it - what was he, a newbie? It was almost like it was meant to be disarmed. But other than that, there was more writing, the kanji shakily scrawled by an angry hand, in plain black permanent marker, accompanied by defaced pictures of family, dear friends, and his departed teacher. 

“I’ll kill you. I’ll make you suffer. Die.”

That’s what was written, over and over again. Nagisa allows himself another deep breath, the exhale leaving him like a hiss. With no other way to handle this in mind, he proceeds to snap photos of everything he’s found, and contact the one person he assumes has any idea what’s going on. Nagisa was sure he pieced it together - there was someone from the past back to haunt them. Or, well, him specifically.

“You wanna kill me? Well, I’d like to see you try.” Nagisa says softly, though he could feel that there was nobody around to hear him as he opens his contacts.

Nagisa: [images of the vandalism done to E class, and the trap and scrawlings.]

Nagisa: looks like i have a fan. One that’s not too good at trap assassinations. Not like I wasn’t expecting it as soon as I saw the broken lock, though ^^

Karasuma: I’m on my way to survey the damage. Did you find anything else disturbed?

Nagisa: Nope. I would’ve sent it to you if I found anything else.

Nagisa: but that doesn’t mean I don’t have some sinking feelings on who exactly it is.

Nagisa: looking at all those defaced faces, this person is both out of the loop and running on dated information. They don’t know my feelings on my mother, but her face is there. They don’t know more of my closer friends, other than Karma and Kayano. The old grenade pull trick? I started out doing that one. Their window of knowledge is brief, and skin deep. Definitely one of the backfiring clients we had helping with the assassination. 

Nagisa: and with the bullheaded handwriting and obvious grudge, i have a strong idea of who this is. And I think you know it too.

Karasama: Are you sure?

Nagisa: oh, I am. Who else has such a deep hatred for me but Takaoka? 

Nagisa: not to mention, I think this has been an issue for a while. But you haven’t talked to me about it for whatever reason. Why is that? Isn’t  **someone who has been trying to kill me** my business?

Nagisa: I think one of my new friends has gotten caught up in this as well. You know, the principal’s son, Gakushu. I could tell something was bothering him ever since our little karaoke trip. I bet Irina told you about the trip, right?

Nagisa: he knew something was off with Irina too, but stopped wanting to talk about it after he went to scold her. He must’ve heard too much, am I right? He must’ve learned that such a dangerous enemy was after me, and that both Karma and I were in danger. Because this guy is that big a threat, wouldn’t you know right away if he escaped?

Nagisa: that must be why he’s suddenly asked me for self defense lessons. He’s planning to protect Karma. Maybe me, too. Isn’t that cute?

The more he thought about this, the more it made sense. And the more it angered him that he was kept in the dark. He was so upset by it, he clenched his teeth, and his hands were actually shaking.

Nagisa: Actually? That’s not cute. It’s not funny at all. I don’t want him involved in something dangerous. Why did you think it was okay to just not let me know Takaoka broke out? Why let Gakushu know over anybody else? Someone who was never involved outside of our class’ things? He isn’t ready for this. This isn’t fair to do to him. I don’t care if he’s just as strong as karma or as smart or even smarter or whichever what way! This isn’t someone he should be fighting! This isn’t his fight!

Nagisa: why aren’t you answering me?

Karasuma: Nagisa, calm down for a moment. 

Karasuma: First of all, you’re the top student of the assassination classroom. Though karma was the ace on terms of academics, you were the ace in your capabilities as an assassin. You were a threat to many rogue allies.

Karasuma: secondly. You’re no longer involved in government affairs. If any now classified perpetrators were to escape, i have no authority to tell you anything.

Karasuma: third. The trap was set up to kill you. This could’ve easily been an attempt to hurt one of your friends… you’re thinking too directly.

Nagisa:  **oh mister karasuma that makes me feel so much better**

Nagisa:  _ i’m so fucking glad someone’s after kayano or even karma i’m so fucking glad _

Nagisa:  **_I’m so glad i think i’ll take a nice vacation! Send my pals cakes! Hey, guess who’s about to be MURDERED!!!!_ **

Karasuma:... I apologize for the bluntness, but you can’t be too narrow-minded, or you’ll be chasing the wrong person.

Nagisa: I don’t like this! I don’t know if I wanna cry, scream, or stab something!

Karasuma: Nagisa, please relax. I’m going to take care of this, okay? If something really goes wrong, then we’ll contact you. What were you doing up there before this?

Nagisa: I was going to meet up with Gakushu for training. I was going to teach him how to use a knife.

Nagisa: guess I’ll have to relocate, huh?

Nagisa: hopefully it doesn’t irritate him, he really likes it when things go smoothly. This isn’t smooth at all in case you were wondering. What the hell am I going to say to make it so he doesn’t worry?

Karasuma: sadly you will have to think of something. But please, just focus on him. 

Nagisa: fine. Talk to you later, i guess.

Nagisa lets out a small huff, and exits that conversation window. He leans back in his chair, taking some deep breaths. He was only a little guilty for getting angry; he knew Karasuma cared, he was just kind of idiotic when it came to comforting people. That, and he was just trying to help Nagisa have a relatively normal rest of his life, and not get that overdrive of bloodlust. But here he was, staring down a death threat, thinking of ways to counter. Upsetting memories were beginning to leak in with the stress, shouting from different people, the pains of someone you cared about having to die, that painful feeling when someone just  _ hates who you are _ , how nobody can just let Nagisa be happy-

“Stop. just stop.” Nagisa mumbled to himself. He reaches a hand up behind his ear, pressing down on that pressure point used to calm him down. More deep breaths.

“It’s going to be okay. I’m going to be fine. That’s all…” He mutters to himself. He has to say it a few times, and while he does, he opens up another app to talk to Gakushu in.

Nagisa: Hey, Gakushu! Just checking in.

Asano: Hello Nagisa. I may be a bit late (Father is being a bit of a bother), but i’ll be up soon enough. How are you?

Nagisa: I’m fine! If anything, I’m just feeling a bit of class stress. I understand, and there’s no rush! But I have a little question to ask…

Asano: ask away.

Nagisa switches windows momentarily. Kayano was online! Perfect timing.

Kayano: Hey!! Look at this!!!

Kayano: [image: a snack table piled high with sweets.]

Kayano: how much. Do you bet. I can eat of this??

Nagisa: gosh that’s huge… I don’t know about you, but I doubt I could make it past like 3 of those big doughnuts ^^;

Kayano: well guess what! I ate like thirteen. Anyways what’s new with you?

Nagisa: Not much! Just tutoring Gakushu in the art of stabbing.

Kayano: ooh! Like 🗡?

Nagisa: yesss 🗡🗡🗡

Nagisa: anyways can i ask a big favor?

Kayano: sure, shoot!!

Nagisa: 🔫 I need ya to just say yes to whatever Gakushu asks you about the E class building

Kayano: hehe gun puns

Kayano: sure thing! Why?

Nagisa: i’m gonna ask if we can take practice to his house and i really need an excuse ,,^u^,,

Kayano: oooh~ that sounds sneaky! I’ll do it for you, you sly boy! Wasn’t it Karma who you were crushing on~?

The text flustered him, but he had to let it go. He’d have no excuses that could get past her if he were to skirt closer to the truth. 

Nagisa: well, I mean… I did notice that Karma had grown a neat little relationship with him. A strong one. And i think Gakushu likes Karma quite a bit… so maybe I’m scoping out the goodness he’s found aaand… well… hm…

Kayano: Tie things together? Have two boys to kiss~?

Nagisa: yeah, that’s about it. I mean, wasn’t Gakushu really fun to be around lately? He’s really grown from our school days together! And gosh, Karma’s always fun to be around. We’ve always kept in touch as much as possible and my feelings really never faded. And Gakushu seems like he could use lots of love too… he’s not that scary at all!

Kayano: that’s probably because you’re so desensitized to spooky boys owo

Kayano: in fact… I think you have a thing for them ￢w￢

Nagisa: I-

Kayano: ￢w￢

Nagisa: well-

Kayano: ￢w￢￢w￢￢w￢￢w￢

Nagisa: Kayano pls;;

Kayano: ￢w￢

Nagisa: ¬.¬

Nagisa: ok maybe

Kayano: lol anyways go get on with ur lil stab date 🗡

Nagisa: Will do! Thx for the cover kayano!

Kayano: No problem 🐙

Now Nagisa was definitely distracted. He flips back to his conversation with Gakushu to tie things together… was the whole thing for spooky boys true? Well… maybe definitely. He really cares about his spooky boys if he’s being honest. Ah well, just another upside to going to his house instead.

Asano: ?

Asano: Nagisa?

Nagisa: Sorry, was just talking to Kayano

Nagisa: speaking of her… I entirely forgot she was taking a film crew into the woods of the mountain today >-< I know that I said we’d be going up there, but do you think we could… maybe relocate? 

Asano: Very well. It’s a bit of an unexpected turn of events, but that’s fine. Do you have anywhere specific we should relocate ourselves to?

Nagisa: not really… I was thinking we could take it to your house. A backyard is more than enough room, and you wouldn’t have to do much walking to get there ^^ 

Asano: well… I mean, that’s fine but my dad is… sorta home…

Nagisa: I can sneak in! I can do the same stuff Karma can. I’ve heard that he’s visited you plenty of times through your balcony!

Asano: right. That’s true… I suppose it’s fine then. So long as we’re quiet…

Nagisa: no problem. You know sign language?

Asano: I’ve been working on it. Sadly father found it pointless on top of all of his other bullshit…

Nagisa: god that’s so dumb

Nagisa: It’s not even just something that’s for the hearing impaired, it has so many other uses!

Nagisa: there a serial killer hunting you? You can sign takedown plans to a nearby friend.

Nagisa: leaving gifts at a friend’s house? Sign to your pal maneuver plans.

Nagisa: infiltration? Signing.

Nagisa: sneaking out to meet your lover, your parents are home and your phone is bugged? Sign to your love where the ladder is in the shed~

Nagisa: next thing you know you’ll be free to kiss the lover and carry on about your date, the evil parent none the wiser~

Asano: this sounds like a very specific and thought out fantasy

Asano: I relate to it heavily, and the whole prospect of my ability to sneak out is possibly why i was never taught parkour or signing

Nagisa: such skills make us prisoner kids too strong…

Nagisa: but anyways, could I come over?

Asano: of course. So long as you have faith in your abilities, I see no issue. 

Nagisa: thanks ^^

Nagisa: I’ll be over in a little bit. See you then!

Asano: see you.

With that, Nagisa is relieved. He’s gotten down the mountain by the time the texts have stopped coming, and once Karasuma and his crew arrive, Nagisa finally feels okay with leaving. 

He makes it over to Gakushu's house quickly and efficiently. Once he gets to a house close enough to drop down into the backyard, he sees that the boy he would be training was waiting patiently, watching bees and butterflies do their thing in the garden that lined the border of the yard's hedge walls. Interestingly enough, the butterflies and bumblebees were even landing on Gakushu, just sitting and fluttering or flexing their wings. Nagisa even witnesses him pet the little fluffy part of one of the bees and mutter something to it softly. Nagisa is careful to hop down and land in a way that won't crush flowers. 

"Hi Gakushu! I'm here." Nagisa says, hoping he wasn't being too sudden.

Luckily, this time, Gakushu wasn't spooked. But Nagisa did notice that he seemed pretty embarrassed to be caught chilling with the bugs. He does his best to scoot the things onto leaves or have them take off as fast as possible before turning to face Nagisa.

"Oh, hello. I didn't think you would be over so quickly…" Gakushu says, a black and blue butterfly that didn't seem to want to leave yet landing on his head once more. 

Nagisa smiles at him and says, "yeah, sorry about that! I was just a little excited about getting to teach you something…" 

He was almost going to say he was excited to spend time with him, because hey, it was super exciting to know the kind of person he's been missing out on a bit more, but that seemed a bit extreme on the charm for now. So thus, it's time to not sit awkwardly in that and retrieve his materials from the backpack he had with him.

"Ah, I see… you really do have a passion for teaching, huh?" Gakushu says, smiling a little as he attempted to gently nudge the butterfly off his hair. It wouldn't leave. 

"Yeah, I guess you could say that…" nagisa says, tossing some books to the side and fishing out the anti-koro knives he packed for the occasion. 

Once he had those, he packs his bag again and moves it off to the side, turning and handing a knife to Gakushu. The butterfly fluttered away as he grabs it, inspecting the thing carefully while it's in his grasp. 

"I take it these are souvenirs from your old class?" Gakushu asked, bending the tough rubber ever so slightly.

"They are! These were made special to kill our teacher. Deadly to him, harmless to humans! Isn't that cool?" Nagisa answered happily, twirling his own knife in his hand.

The talk of murdering a teacher was a bit jarring, but nonetheless gakushu says, "quite interesting indeed. Where do we start with them?"

"Well, let's see what you remember from our last session. That way I can get a good look at what we should work on!" Nagisa says.

"Alright. Let me do something first…" Gakushu says, and takes out his phone.

Asano: I'm doing something important in the backyard that requires extreme focus. Don't come back here at all.

(Ex)principal: gardening again?

Asano: stop texting me, i said it's important and it's also time consuming. I'll let you know when I'm done. Don't even look at me i don't want to catch you staring at me from the other side of the door!

(Ex)principal: very well. Have fun tending to your perennials for six hours, as you seem to enjoy doing. 

Gakushu rolls his eyes and says, "alright, hopefully that will keep him away. We can get started now." And he places his phone on a small bench tucked away in the flower bed.

With that, he shows off how good he is at remembering what he's learned, going through the basic movements Nagisa had previously taught him over the computer. Perfect stance, perfect posture, and steady movements. Nagisa can't help but be thrilled. 

"Very impressive, Gakushu! You've got amazing skill. We'll be able to move right on to the next steps." Nagisa says cheerily.

"It was easy to remember, and I've practiced often. I'll gladly learn more of your teachings, Nagisa." Gakushu says with a confident grin. 

With this, they begin their training. Nagisa shows him all that he learned, but broken down bit by bit. Once again, Gakushu is a fast learner with barely any mess ups. He tended to get a bit stuck on his faults, but Nagisa kept his spirits lifted with some strong positive reinforcement. They even got to the point where they had a little sparring to see what Gakushu could accomplish. First one to get taken down and stabbed loses! 

Nagisa tried to go gently, but Gakushu was a bit stronger and determined to do perfectly, and his ability was quickly matching Karma’s in just about every aspect. Getting a bit overwhelmed, Nagisa forgot his “go easy for teaching purposes” manners and quickly gets into battle mode. He backs off as Gakushu advances, relaxing his mind and seeing what kind of wavelength Gakushu was on. The moment he sees Gakushu get into the perfect position, Nagisa strikes, Knocking him off balance and forcing him to the ground, landing on him hard and restraining Gakushu’s armed hand as Nagisa’s thankfully fake blade comes just short of giving Gakushu a bruise on his neck. 

Not only is he sort of in pain from landing so hard, but Gakushu is completely dazed and shocked as he lies beneath the small boy, heart thumping away in his chest as he takes in everything that just happened. Nagisa just launched at him, like a snake would at its prey. For a moment he had some mortal terror, but he quickly remembered the knives were fake. But god, what kind of things has Nagisa been through to make him so… powerful? Even that smiling expression he had was so sinister, it gave him chills. Why was Gakushu’s face feeling a bit flushed now too? Was it the sparring?

“Nagisa…?” Gakushu says softly, once enough air came back to do so.

The little gesture was enough to bring that bloodlust out of his eyes. One blink, and his gentleness was back entirely. 

“Oh! Sorry about that, I got carried away…” Nagisa responds, giggling a bit.

“You completely overwhelmed me…” Gakushu sighs, looking away, “And I don’t often admit that to opponents, either. What even was that?” 

“Yeah, I just sort of… got in the zone.” Nagisa said.

He uses the blade of his knife to guide Gakushu back to looking up at him. He wanted to show that he was being honest with what he was about to say!

“But that doesn’t mean you were bad - even Karma lost to me when we fought. In fact, you were just as good as he was! And that’s very impressive for someone who just started out with this. It means you have great potential.” Nagisa says. 

“Thanks… I guess.” Gakushu said, the little blush bothering him not leaving.  _ Even Karma lost _ … it was hard to imagine. He couldn’t even get himself to mind being compared to Karma - it made him really happy to hear that he was doing that well.

And of course,  _ meanwhile while they’re on the ground like this, _ guess who just decided to be Dad-like for once and check up on his son? It was ex principal Gakuho! He thought he could stealthily leave some lemonade or something out for his son - and between all that brainliness in this man’s monster brain, with all that smart, he forgot that Gakushu sort of hated lemonade and would prefer literally anything else. This and he couldn’t not know what Gakushu was up to, in case it was a plan to ruin Gakuho’s day. And as he’s at the glass door, looking out, he finds a small boy atop his son, seemingly sharp object pointed at his pinned son’s throat.

“Ah, that’s Shiota.” Gakuho said to himself, “about to assassinate my son.”

He sets the little lemonade down on the tile floor of the hall, sliding the door open silently, glad he fixed it this morning so it could slide that smoothly. He could sense that killer’s potential in Nagisa just as easily as Korosensei would. And in Gakuho’s mind, it was a bad idea to trust and nurture any talent at all into a killer like that. It’s part of why Nagisa had been placed into E-class - besides trying to defend karma before the boy got suspended for beating a teacher and another A-class student so long ago. So what was he going to do about it?

Punt Nagisa, of course. And teach his son more defenses later so that this certainly doesn’t happen again.  _ Obviously _ he wasn’t polished enough to defend himself against S-rank criminals yet. Disappointed he was, but not surprised. He didn’t even bother to eavesdrop before coming to this conclusion and getting a running start to kick the boy.

When Gakushu notices his dad running at them, it’s much too late for him to stop what’s in motion and explain what was going on. All he could do was try and say, “DAD, STOP!” but he was already too close and Nagisa was about to get kicked hard. In Gakushu’s mind, he remembered the impossible of a punch from his dad, and couldn’t imagine how bad that kick would feel on a smaller body than-

Before his thoughts could even rush to such a bad territory, Nagisa, with that soft smile on his face, leans back to just barely dodge that kick. Faster than either of the Asanos can register, Nagisa is on his feet, arms wrapped around that leg, using momentum to flip that grown man over his shoulder.

You heard it here folks, it’s a  **double underestimation!**

As soon as Nagisa realizes its his old Principal, he smiles and says, “Oh hi! Didn’t think it was you. Why’d you try to kick me?”

Gakushu’s feelings change from fear to complete rush of awe and excitement. He couldn’t help but smile wide, like he was a child watching a circus. It felt great to watch his father of all people get his ass handed to him for being a jackass. The fear comes back when his father is still moving and not passed out from that hard of a hit to solid ground. 

“Well, you were going to stab my son…” Gakuho said.

“For the third time in your life, you’re wrong! Look close at my ‘weapon’, sir.” Nagisa said, tossing the knife at Gakuho with enough force to make it almost sound like Gakuho had been wounded.

If it were a real knife, it would be deep in his chest right now, but the knife bounced off the man’s chest and landed on his face. He reaches up and inspects the anti korosensei knife. Gakushu is trying his hardest not to laugh, because he knows if he does he’d get some backlash later from his father.

“...Brings back memories. Alright. Carry on, then.” Gakuho says.

Without another word, he gets up and heads back to the house. Nagisa is very aware that that sinister man was trying so hard to hide his embarrassment. The sliding glass door is fully closed with a soft thump, that lemonade forgotten at the door as Gakuho slinks back into his office to mull over the entirety of what happened.

The first thing to break the tension left in that backyard is the sound of laughter. A small snicker spills out of the hands cupped over Gakushu’s mouth, and grows until the boy is in tears on the ground, laughing harder than Nagisa has seen him before. It was sorta cute! Nagisa was a bit worried, but giggled with him too after a little while. 

“Haahahahahaaah! Oh my god… the look on his face when you flipped him over his shoulder! That was amazing! God, I wish I had that recorded! It was so awesome…” Gakushu says.

“You think so? I felt him coming, so I just acted on instinct…” Nagisa says. Another cute point: the way Gakushu laughed like a super villain. All too adorable.

“You  _ felt _ him coming…” Gakushu repeated, wiping a tear from his eye, “and you flipped him over your shoulder like a sack full of books!” 

And as soon as Gakushu has stood up and calmed down, he puts a hand on Nagisa’s shoulder. Nagisa is momentarily confused until he senses terror from the boy.

“It was funny, but please, accept no real challenge from him after this, even if he talks about ruined pride or calls you a coward. Let it stay ruined! He’d kill you if he knows not to underestimate you now… and I really thought he was going to kill you before you did that.” Gakushu stated, entirely serious about every word.

Nagisa nods and says, “Okay, I understand. Do you wanna stop for today? Maybe we can just go get some fast food or something, celebrate your fast learning with it. You did do a good job today, after all.” 

“Yeah, sounds good. We’ll be out of here before he decides he wants a rematch.” Gakushu says, quickly moving to where he left his phone to pick it up.

He definitely seemed anxious now as he shoved the device in his pocket. Nagisa packs the fake knives away and rests the bag on his shoulder. Gakushu grabs Nagisa’s hand and guides him over to the exit from the backyard to the driveway.

“Would you like me to drive, or can we walk?” Gakuhsu asked.

“Whichever you want, i don’t mind.” Nagisa replies. 

They end up walking for it, since Gakushu had so much on his mind to begin with. He was clearly not very over how close his dad came to seriously injuring Nagisa, but he kept talking about other things to keep his mind away from it. They arrive at the unnamed popular fast food place, get their orders, and sit down together. Once tucked away in a quiet corner booth, Nagisa decides to see what he can do about helping Gakushu’s odd mood. 

“So, are you feeling better?” Nagisa asked.

“Yeah… I’m good. It’s fine… I’m sorry I freaked out and ended our training early.” Gakushu says. 

“It’s fine, Gakushu. I don’t mind it at all… but uh, why did you think your father would kill me?” Nagisa asks.

“Oh, I don’t know, because the next thing I saw was him running at you ready to punt you into the sun?” Gakushu says.

“Well, there’s that, but I think your fear would’ve died down after if it were just that.” Nagisa responds.

Gakushu tried to think of a better response, but once he comes up with nothing he avoids eye contact, sips his drink, then says, “It just… scared me. Besides, you wouldn’t believe it if I told you about what he’s not afraid to do.”

“Are you sure?” Nagisa says, tilting his head, “I’ve seen some bad things. Experienced them too. If you want, we could take this to a more remote spot if you wanna talk.” 

Gakushu hums softly, then says, “...I’ll… think about it. Let’s just eat first. Alright?” 

“Okay. Whatever you need to feel comfortable. I wouldn’t wanna make you do anything.” Nagisa says.

They eat in a somewhat silence for a while, Nagisa occasionally showing off pictures Karma has sent him, some jokes passed around here and there. But Nagisa could notice quite easily just how off Gakushu was feeling. He wanted nothing more than to make the poor guy feel better - he had been such a supporter in the past few months and surprisingly pleasant in the times they’ve gotten to meet. He honestly cared about Gakushu, so much so that he wouldn’t want anything bad to happen to him. And if something already has, he just wants to be there for him in the aftermath of it.

Once they were done, trays taken care of and containers disposed of, they wander out together again, Gakushu taking the lead. Instead of heading for his home or anything, they head out to the nearby park, where things were quiet and there was more room to breathe. They sit together on a bench, just shy of a lampost’s light. The night air was cool, not too harsh, just nice to take in. Nagisa sits with his knees up while Gakushu sits casually.

After a moment or two, Gakushu says softly, “So. I take it you still want to know why I got so scared…”

Nagisa nods, “Yeah, I’d like to. But if it’s too personal, you don’t have to say anything. I understand.”

“I do want to say it… this is going to be difficult. It’s sort of worse than the punch I told you about. Are you sure you want to hear? Are you going to believe what I say?” Gakushu asked.

“Of course I’ll believe you. You have no reason to lie, and I already know your dad isn’t the greatest person, especially when people disagree with him. I haven’t doubted you even once; I know what having a parent like that is like…” Nagisa says.

“Yeah… of course. Alright, listen up. Here I go.” Gakushu says. 

He takes a deep breath, in, then out. He needs one more moment, convincing himself that the subject of his venting wasn’t going to come out and talk away what he was going to say. It’s time to do this. 

“So… you know how set in his ways my father is. Studies endlessly, practices his studies endlessly, never wanting to be wrong. He’s been like that for as long as I could remember. He always told me how he’s only ever failed twice, and vowed never to be defeated again. There’s always been that pressure on me, too. Something about his karate lessons being the first one, and the second one being in not being strict enough on an old student of his. Something like that, he always told me the boy went down a dark path never returned from, and he didn’t want that for me. That was his only root justification for all the training, all the cramming, all the ‘polishing’, as he called it. But every time you messed up, or every time you openly defied him, it was hell to pay. Mostly yelling, but if i threw any sort of tantrum or even just cried as a child, I’d get hit. But when I truly did well, well enough to impress a crowd, he would always talk about how amazing I was to them. How I was gifted; a prodigy like no other. It was so contradictory to the way he treated me behind the scenes… and I grew to hate it every time he’d start mouthing off to someone about how perfect I was. I don’t know what he truly thinks, if he goes by a policy of tough love and truly cares, or thinks so low of me that he throws those bouts of doting words in just to keep me complacent.”

“As time went on, as you know, I came to terms with all of it. It sort of became a game for me, testing how close i could skirt to the edge on making him angry, especially in our cram school years. At that point he didn’t need to put pressure; I was already routinely being hard on myself and pushing myself on my own, the most he needed to do was watch me and act like i was just like this my whole life, and throw in criticisms here and there. He’s still scary when things displease him though, and I’d have to act like it didn’t bother me when he was doing his best to get under my skin. I’d want nothing more than to watch him crash and burn for his harshness. I hated that he saw me as a pawn, and his school like some sort of game. I hated his whole system. I hated that I felt like I wanted to please him, or had to surpass him… and as you guys kept defying odds and making things not go his way, it made his temper worse. He’d start to pressure me again, push me harder and harder and set things up for you to fail. There was the falters with the midterms and the festival, which weren’t that bad, livable things he steamed over whined about me not cheating to beat you guys into the ground. But then… there’s the first time I truly, undeniably failed against E class. The sports event.”

Gakushu takes a deep breath again, trying to keep the shakiness from his voice. His grip on the sleeves of his hood tightened, and he talked as the memory came flowing back to him. Bad memories always felt like they happened only yesterday.

“In the morning, before the event, he was adamant about me not losing. He showed me my new team, kept reminding me how many people would be there, kept telling me that if I lost, I would have to take the whole blame, because he made the chances so low that I’d have to be putting in the effort to fail if I did. It was stressful, but nothing I wasn’t used to… I think. It was just another hard day, where I’d have to put my all in. when the event happened, I did have fun. E class proved itself as tough as ever, and the challenge was great and for one great, blissful moment I didn’t care that I lost. The American team he hired even told me i was great, that you guys were unlike anything they put up with and it was no wonder we lost, but still. For just a short amount of time, even if I didn’t seem like it to you, I just… felt normal. Like I was having a normal school event and a good day despite all the losing. But then… We had to report back to my father. And though he doesn’t move his face much to show it, he was furious. It hurt so badly to hear how angry he was that we lost to mere insects like E class. That he was disappointed in me especially, and I let him down. Then one of the guys stood up for me. This guy named… Kevin. I think. I remember him well, because he told my father right to his face that it wasn’t right to do that to me. That it was… abusive, at least in his homeland. And then… there was the lesson of defeat.”

Gakushu felt his emotions spike a bit. He did his best not to think hard, try to be forgetful, push away the worst details as he retold. But it was very hard to do that.

**_Gakushu Asano’s weakness #6: painful memories are hard to let go._ **

“He spun a tale about his first few days of karate, challenging a black belt, getting his ass kicked, then beating the man on his third day of training without being hit once. He went slowly, talking like it was inspiring, just after he beat the hell out of everyone he hired that day. Not just bruises; there was blood, there was gore, bits and pieces where it shouldn’t be. I watched them struggle, i couldn’t even get myself to move close enough to stop him. It was… awful. He beat them and gutted them until they just stopped moving. And he just stood there, talking to me like they weren’t ever real. Like all the blood on his hands wasn’t there, getting closer like it was just another talk, like  _ I  _ was the one overreacting. Reminded me that I’m never… allowed… t-to fail…”

Nagisa is absolutely horrified by what he’s hearing. He had no idea this happened, and just the pure fact that the principal murdered people in front of his son just to torment him made him hate the man even more. And almost wish he broke Gakuho’s neck when he flipped him before. Gakushu held his head in his hands, not realizing his tears, and struggling to keep getting those feelings out.

“I was so terrified… I was so scared he was going to hurt Ren and the others, I was convinced he was going to have someone kill Karma or even just all of you, every inch of that blood soaked room is just stuck in my memory and I couldn’t do anything but carry on studying and acting like nothing went wrong! I can’t take sick days, i’d have to finish work early so I could go throw up in the bathroom or sob in a place nobody could look at me and just drown it all in whatever I could… it numbs out, but every time the memory comes back I just…” the hands over his eyes curl as he drags his nails down his cheeks, “hate myself for screwing up like that...”

Before Gakushu could keep going a pair of warm arms wrap around him, hugging him tight. For good measure, two fingers are pressed firmly into a pressure point he remembers Korosensei using on him to help the poor boy relax.

“Gakushu… you’re not the one that screwed up. It’s not your fault that he did what he did, and if he has the gall to blame you for his own actions, he’s the monster here. Nobody should ever be forced to see something like that, over something that should’ve been harmless. He doesn’t deserve to have you in his life at all if he’s going to use fear to control you. The only thing he deserves is to be alone for the rest of his life, and nothing more. You certainly don’t deserve to be hurt over every little mistake you make. You’re only human, and it’s not right. Okay?” Nagisa tells him. 

Everything that was happening felt almost unreal. Gakushu was barely ever hugged tightly like this, or spoken to so sincerely. It really  _ wasn’t _ his fault he was traumatized, he  _ didn’t _ deserve the mental abuse he endured, and yet that never hit him as hard as it did to be told that by someone like him. Nagisa, who has recounted to him countless horror stories about the horrible abuse his mother put him through, physically, mentally, telling Gakushu that he was allowed to feel hurt. And for the longest time it didn’t even register that he had it just as bad as Nagisa, maybe even worse. Not until this moment, the time he chose to be vulnerable to the boy beside him. 

And for the first time, in a very, very long time, it felt good to cry. It felt good to just cry it out, to hold and be held tight, just let everything go. As the tears begin to slow, breathing became easier. Nagisa pulls back for a moment, reaching up to dry the tears away with the sleeve of a soft, dark blue sweater. He felt a little unstable, like this moment could easily be broken by distant, painful thoughts, but those soft blue eyes were easy to focus on.

“I don’t want you to worry about him anymore. Okay? And even if it’s terrifying, and no doubt difficult, you should get away from him as soon as you can. The greatest victory over him will be cutting the chains he’s placed on you and being your own person, living for yourself, and not just to please him. Trust me, once you’re away, it’ll be so much easier to breathe. I won’t let him hurt you, I promise.” Nagisa says.

“That’s… a lot to promise. Do you really think I could get away, just like that?” Gakushu asks.

“I do. The first person I stayed with when I moved away from mom was Karma. Between you and me, he’s always lonely in that big house by himself, and it makes him pretty happy to have guests over. He probably hoped you wouldn’t leave after the midterms. He’d be happy to have you over, and I bet if we dropped by tonight it wouldn’t bother him one bit.” Nagisa says.

“Really now… do you think we could go tonight? I wouldn’t mind. I don’t think I can really go back to my house right now.” Gakushu asks. 

“Well, I doubt he could turn both of us down.” Nagisa says, standing and taking Gakushu’s hand, “Let’s go see. If I’m wrong, I’ll just camp with you somewhere.”

“Or I’ll get us a hotel room.” Gakushu mumbles.

“Yeah, that can happen too. I just like looking at the moon.” Nagisa says.

With that, they take a walk to Karma’s place and it’s well after dark by the time they get there. They ring the doorbell, and Karma answers the door with a 3ds in hand, hair still damp from showering, wearing a pair of black and orange pajama pants and no shirt. Interestingly enough though, a hoodie was wrapped around his waist, leaving both the boys at the door to wonder why he was shirtless in the first place. Did he just not have enough time to put it on as he came to the door??

But nonetheless, Karma smiles in his warm and mischievous way at them and says, “Good evening, Nagisa, Gakushu. What brings you here at this hour of the night~?” 

“It’s only 7:30.” Gakushu mutters, trying to seem like he wasn’t staring.

“Well, plans went a little different today, and Gakushu is going to take another break from home for his own health. It’s a bit late for me to go back home, so… do you think we could spend the night with you?” Nagisa asked sweetly, doing his best to charm the redhead.

Karma smirks and replies, “I guess I could let you two in. But on one condition~” 

“I’ll do it.” Gakushu responds, throwing off the other two a little bit.

“I’m glad to see you’re so eager to please, Gakushu! I love that kind of attitude~” Karma says.

“Are you sure you want to just blindly agree to whatever he wants you to do?” Nagisa asks, extremely concerned.

“Whatever challenge you give me, Karma, I’m sure it’s something I can take. I’m utterly exhausted and I just wanna sit somewhere at least.” Gakushu replies.

“If you say so…” Nagisa says. 

Karma invites them in, and has the two sit on the couch while he makes Sundaes and popcorn for everyone. They spend the night watching shows and laughing, sharing the fun little things that happened, and of course, talking about how Nagisa flipped the principal, wouldn’t want to leave that out. Karma loved hearing about it all, and congratulated both boys on the amazing things they achieved that day. As the night winds down, they get cozy with each other, cozy and cuddly together. A while after everyone gets tired enough to fall asleep, Karma is awoken slightly by a loud commercial.

Once he’s awake, he notices that he’s in a bit of a different position from before. Gakushu was holding him tightly in his sleep, head resting on Karma’s chest, deep in his dreams, while Nagisa lied on top of both of them, a cute little smile on his face as he sleeps.

“I wasn’t planning to sleep on a couch tonight… but you two are pretty convincing.” Karma whispered to them.

If he could move, he would’ve kissed them both, but he’s pretty much immobilized. The best he could do was bid them sweet dreams, turn the tv off, and try to drift back into a nice, deep sleep.

For once, Gakushu made it look easy.


	6. Morning rain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> while Gakushu and Karma spend more time together, Nagisa handles some other business, with old friends and enemies alike. and it all starts out on a rainy morning...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this one might hurt a bit. 
> 
> (oh and Gakushu crossdressed again but only for a little bit)

When Gakushu wakes, he hears the sound of rain. Loud, heavy rain pelting against the house and windows. It was one of his most favorite sounds, calming and constant. He was very sleepy, still coming out of that deep, dreamy fog he had. He could still vaguely remember his dream, something that had to do with warmth, sunlight and smiles, but it was somewhat slipping away to the gloomy, rain-filled morning. As his dreams begin to leave, he tries to remember what he was doing last; was it a school night? A weekend? Is he oversleeping? 

As he starts to stir a bit, the sensations that surround him begin to tug his memories back into line. The warmth he was clinging to, the absence of a person that he remembered being there, replaced by a blanket draped over them. He remembered being with Nagisa last night, some intense emotions, and tight hugs being shared. When he finds that he no longer has the lack of strength to drift back to sleep, he slowly opens his eyes.

There was Karma, sleeping right beneath him, still in a deep sleep. He seemed so… oddly peaceful. Almost… innocent, and that was a word you use for karma very rarely. Gakushu was very careful, moving slightly and slowly so he wouldn’t wake him up. God, his face was so red right now… he was so glad Karma wasn’t awake.

Gakushu, for a moment, thought back on all the times they had shared together. Every single one of those times, he always had so much fun. Even now was peaceful and pleasant, and just sort of felt… right. In the dark of the room around them, with the rain still pelting heavily against that house, feeling safe, warm… and loved. 

And then, after a few moments of Gakushu sleepily feeling his feelings, and not to mention staring pretty hard with his mind elsewhere, Karma opens his eyes. That didn’t quite register with Gakushu either, all he thought was, “Oh, his eyes are open…” and then his internal monologuing continued. 

“Your eyes glow.” Karma says sleepily.

His voice is what knocks Gakushu out of his own head. “Huh?” he mumbles.

“Your eyes glow… they just catch the light like that, I guess. Or maybe you do come from a line of real demons, not that anyone minds… it’s really cool… show Nagisa, he’ll love it.” Karma explains softly. 

“Oh… thanks.” gakushu says, blushing slightly and glancing around, “Where’d he run off to, anyways?”

Gakushu figures the first thing to do is to check is his phone, and sure enough, a message from nagisa lies in a newly created group chat for the three of them.

Nagisa: hi guys! I decided I’d just make a group for the three of us. I figured it would be simpler than sending you both separate texts and juggling chat rooms.

Nagisa: so here we are! Hope its useful ^u^

Nagisa: I realized there were some things I had to go check on, so I had to leave the cuddle pile kind of early. Sorry about that! I honestly would’ve loved to stay for longer, but it’s important as you could probably tell. Did my best to not disturb. I’ll see you guys later!

“Oh. so that’s what happened…” gakushu says. He glances over at karma to see him sending something in chat, grinning as he did.

Karma: [image: Gakushu’s definitely glowing eyes while he reaches for his phone]

Karma: I understand and I hope whatever you have to do is done quick but also look

Gakushu: when did I give you permission to take my picture?

Karma: Sorry its my job to document pretty, cute and occasionally supernatural :p

Karma: and unfortunately for you you fit these 3 categories pretty well!

Gakushu blushes very hard and continues to furiously text in the group chat. Proud of his work, Karma stretches and sits up. He gently pushes Gakushu off of him, and wanders off to find a shirt and other day clothes. He reaches down to pat Gakushu’s head, and in response he swats at Karma’s hand half-heartedly. 

Gakushu: i don’t fit these! 

Nagisa: well i mean you kind of do! Look at your eyes!

Gakushu: No!

When he re-enters his room and peeks into his closet, he is reminded of the little deal Gakushu was much too quick to make with him. A small smile spreads across his face as he takes the garment out and sets it aside. He gets dressed, brushes his hair, and takes that little accessory to the deal downstairs with him. 

Nagisa: you are tho! 

Gakushu: I thought you said it’s bad to think of me as inhuman!

Nagisa: that doesn’t apply to looks though! Both you and karma have looks like that!

Nagisa: i just said that out loud >////<

Nagisa: but still! Boys pretty, and you two especially!

Gakushu: god how are you just. So okay with saying those things?!

Nagisa: compliments are easy if you just. Think up cute things about someone and say them

Gakushu: but arent you like. Dying of shame while doing it???

Nagisa: That’s all the internalized homophobia speaking. It’s a feeling you’ll feel much better without once you kill it!

Gakushu: if you say so… 

Nagisa: but a lesson to the wise: compliments are some choice deadly weapons to fluster people you care about <3

Nagisa: example: karma can be flustered if you’re clever about what you say in relation to his skills or looks. Or if you catch him off guard!

Gakushu: ooh… thank you for that info. I’ll be sure to use it against him.

Nagisa: np >;)

“Ohh Gakushu~! Remember the deal you made with me last night?” Karma calls from the stairway.

This is an effective way of getting Gakushu to look away from the phone, and watch as Karma carried the stylish dress in his hands.

Yeah, Gakushu remembered the deal. Just saying yes without thinking… what was he thinking? Mindlessly feeding into Karma’s… addiction???

“Heheh… I did say yes, didn’t I?” Gakushu says, all to pleasantly for his usual self.

He tries to break for the door, but his motives were clear the moment he sounded off. Karma vaults over the railing, and Gakushu is grabbed, outstretched hand just shy of the door handle. He hates that Karma is stronger than he is - usually he was a good match, but that’s when he was expecting a fight. He kinda hisses a bit when he’s dragged backwards.

“Oh? Trying to run from our little deal? I thought you said you wouldn’t back down from those!” Karma retorts smugly.

“I thought it would be another skirt!” gakushu replies.

“What’s so different?”

“That’s a dress!” 

“So? You wore that nice skirt, and it’s not all that revealing at all. It’s even got a hood.” and to try and get him to be for his little scheme, Karma leans in closer and goes, “Besides, I’m sure you’ll look amazing in it~”

At that, Gakushu struggles a bit less, very flustered but trying to imagine it. “I do look good in most things. But how do i know this isn’t just a plot to mess with me?”

Karma smiles and says, “I mean, I always like dresses on people. It’s not really messing with you, it’s mostly… daring you.” 

Damn. got him there. “Right. So i guess i’m doing this, then.” Gakushu says.

“That’s the spirit!” Karma says cheerfully. 

…

“What do you mean. You couldn’t find traces of him?” Nagisa asks, doing his best to stop his anger from showing.

“He’s not anywhere on the mountain, and we’re combing through nearby areas. It’s simply like whoever planted that bomb wasn’t even there.” Karasuma explains.

It didn’t make sense. How could he just not be there? How could this enemy be gone without any traces, fingerprints, even cells left?

He… he knows its Takaoka. Without a doubt. Right? How is this possible for someone as loud and noisy and awful as him?

“That… that doesn’t make sense. Is there really nothing? Please tell me you’re pulling some sort of ‘ooh this is classified’ move to save my feelings or involvement…” Nagisa says.

“I’m not messing around - it’s truly a baffling scene we have here. But we put up cameras, hoping to catch whoever did that in the act. But even so, just keep this between us. A low profile is key in these situations. I’ll update you on what I can.” Karasuma replies.

“Alright… as long as you’re not keeping me in the dark.” Nagisa says. He knows it’s the best he could get for right now.

Irina, nearby the two, Sighs as she leans on one of the government issued vehicles, a water bottle in hand. “God, that’s fucking creepy. A perp with the ability to leave no trace. What do you think that takes? Speed? Flying? A full body suit, maybe? What kind of mutilation does it take to leave no traces?” she says, envisioning Reaper 2, with his true fleshy face except all over one’s body.

“A full body suit is a more likely guess, Irina. It would be wise to check local trash and incinerators for traces of things like that…” Karasuma replies, doing his best to push Irina’s overactive imagination to the side.

“Maybe…” Nagisa says. 

With that, Nagisa begins to head up the old path to the mountain. 

“You know, I’m not supposed to allow you up there alone just yet. Especially as the enemy’s target.” Karasuma says.

“Then come with me. I need to check on something.” Nagisa says shortly, moving by quickly and quietly.

Karasuma followed, at times having a rough time keeping visuals on the kid. It bugged him out, but they got to the building with no ambushes or wrong turns. Nagisa moves by the guards unnoticed, until Karasuma flashes his badge and explains that the boy is there. They find him in Korosensei’s old room, swiping a pair of scissors along the opening of a larger drawer before opening it, sighing in relief. 

“Everything’s untouched.” Nagisa says, holding up a familiar crescent tie. 

It’s just about now that Karasuma realizes that this is where the kids stored Korosensei’s favorite uniform after he died, along with most memories of him. Looking at the room now, it was almost like a shrine, kept impeccably clean, and things a little more orderly than the haphazard mess the octopus usually left on his downtime. There were even pictures of the class, korosensei, and auguri on the desk. 

Nagisa carefully gathers up the clothes, placing the tie and hat neatly atop the tightly folded garment. “Karasuma, considering how this place has been compromised, do you think you can keep him at your house? I’m sure that’s the most secure place…” 

That’s a heavy amount of feeling on his shoulders, even for Karasuma. He’s even angrier that this place had been invaded by an enemy now. Even Irina sort of straightened out, and those words hit where it hurts. Karasuma, of course, carefully takes the garments from Nagisa.

“Of course. We couldn’t let these get damaged by our target.” Karasuma says. 

Nagisa smiles, bows, and says, “thank you, Karasuma. I know he’ll be safe with you.” 

And karasuma is now just kind of staring down at these clothes for a while before Irina says, “Hey um- where’d the kid go?”

The boy is just straight up gone for a second, but then they see him walking back down the path. Unknown to them, Nagisa has begun texting someone.

Nagisa: Ritsu? Are you there?

Ritsu: of course! I’m always here for my pals <*(,,^u^,,)

Nagisa: I was just thinking - when you have stuff like antimatter, does it leave cells? Residue? And can you detect things like that?

Ritsu: Oh! I know the answer! Antimatter is kinda weird cuz you kinda have to want it to have it

Ritsu: sure korosensei could synthesize cells, but he in essence doesn’t really have them on his own. But Antimatter sort of leaves its own residue that’s indistinguishable from anything else antimatter. Koro probably had cells because he wanted to have weaknesses - this may mean that he left behind cells, but if you analyzed an area where, say, Itona or Kayano fought while they still had their tentacles, it’s likely that something would be left behind but traces of antimatter. 

Ritsu: but having antimatter ≭ not having cells, so itona and kayano still leave their human flakes around! Unless they were super conscious about not being found and used the antimatter tentacles to pick up their own dead skin and lost hairs

Ritsu: but that’s excessive and you could easily obtain results similar with gloves and a suit - just use your antimatter to lap up anything on the outside and boom! Very sterilized suit that you clean out later via the same method. And that’s just thinking of versatility with tentacles

Ritsu: I’m sure you could accomplish such with human/sciencey means. Just takes longer to do and a lotta unnecessary plotting that would take a lot more than asking your tentacles nicely to cover your butt :p

Ritsu: did i mention i’ve been kinda eavesdropping on government affairs?

Nagisa: Curious as always, i see ^^;

Ritsu: they got as much dust samples and such from your seat and have been analyzing nonstop. Wanna know what’s interesting? There’s your typical dust, a whole lotta karma cells that are semi-old, and of course some you. But what IS interesting is the very kind of odness i mentioned on antimatter.

Ritsu: maybe it is an experiment :o

Ritsu: best case scenario: these are separate instances and maybe a new friend to make!!!

Ritsu: worst scenario… [Image: an ms paint drawing of the fat bastard but with tentacles. The words “monster!” and “Scary mean jerk!” are also included.] :(

Ritsu: not to betray Karasuma, because he really wants you to be able to relax, but the rude jerkwad is out there! And that spells a big “not good” for the whole class!

Nagisa: ritsu.

Ritsu: ye?

Nagisa: I really don’t want reaper part 3

Ritsu: neither do i!!!! But it’s a major possibility considering it all!

Ritsu: I want a new antimatter buddy to add to the friendship table that’s maybe just late to the party and confused! But life is mean and not always like that!

Nagisa: the most fucked up part is that if it is a separate entity, it’s helping takaoka either out of fear or again, confusion. I’m absolutely sure due to how limited their knowledge is, how it;s centered on me AND I DON’T WANT ANY FORM OF TAKAOKA ON CRACK.

Nagisa: what sucks is that it’s unrealistic for it to be another experiment. I doubt shitrow could hide anything else from the government at this point…

Ritsu: hehe you curse funny

Nagisa: but like. Little vials of tentacle juice seem pretty easy to get? Especially when you’re a bumbling fat bastard who knows how to punch people to death?

Nagisa: I don’t want that near my friends. I don’t that so badly that i’m kind of starting to panic

Ritsu: well let me give you a third scenario that is… cozier than all that!

Ritsu: since antimatter is so odd and still kinda not well researched, many properties are unknown. It’s possible he did that a long time ago, escaped a long time ago. And maybe the antimatter acts as a sorta sanitizing agent.

Ritsu: one of the last things Korosensei did was clean, so maybe the residue resonates with that last action. The place is pretty spotless, and though it may be partly Karma’s habit of heading up to clean, I doubt he’s meticulous enough to scrub away skin cells completely. If it’s an especially late night, then karma may leave the lock open even one time, coincidentally allowing T*k**k* an in to plant that bomb. The mountain is covered in wild life, so it’s also likely something like a boar or mountain lion ended up bashing into the door and messing things up.

Nagisa: the luck of someone not opening my desk would make me happy. But even so, let’s leave no stone unturned. It seems i have to visit Shiro’s current dwelling.

Ritsu: [address] Here is mr. yanagisawa’s current residence! Though he may not be able to talk to you, considering the full-body paralysis from replacing his meat with tentacles. And then getting Yeeted into the No Tenta bubble zone by our teacher.

Nagisa: that is an awful way of explaining what he did to himself, but still. Is it a place I need to sneak into?

Ritsu: nope! It’s just kinda far. The place is relatively normal. But i’ll disrupt some locks just in case when you arrive!

Nagisa: thanks. Let’s get going, I guess…

Nagisa: Let’s hope it’s something fixable. Or at the very least, a thing we can deal with.

…

Gakushu, blushing hard, poses one last time in that nice dress, and Karma, equipped with his camera, takes plenty of pictures.

“Are you done yet, you idiot?” Gakushu asks. 

“Almost~” Karma says. 

After a while, Gakushu was barely affected by the concept of this dress itself - if anything, it was another excuse to the emotions that he had been made aware of. This much attention by someone he really liked. It didn’t feel like much before, but now, he couldn’t get those feelings under control like he could when he dismissed them. The way his head took emotions and ran with them… sort of had him light headed, and it made him almost feel like he was dreaming. 

Who ever thought he’d be pretty much emotionally combusting in front of Karma like this? 

And even worse, did Karma think he was just blushing for the camera?

He did, didn’t he? That’s all Gakushu could think in the moment, watching Karma back off and check out those photos. Of course, this little photo shoot lasted a while when eventually, well,  _ inevitably, _ he was talked into trying on several more dresses in varying styles. It was basically playing dress up with karma. Not only did they do this in the house, no, of course Karma took him to some more “aesthetic” spots to do photo shoots in, and though he really wanted to go up the mountain, a call to Kayano tells them she’s still filming up there, and from a distance, those big trucks and such look legit. But in the end, they traveled back to Karma’s home for just a few more shots. 

Before he knows it, he’s hit in the face with something. Gakushu somewhat awkwardly catches the garment, and sees that it’s just a simple black hoodie, white shirt with golden designs, and cozy pants. He eyes Karma with an air of confusion for a moment.

“It’s not laundry day today, so I figured you would want something of mine to change into as opposed to yesterday’s stuff. I’ve had my fill of excellent photos from you~” Karma says with a smile.

“Alright. Took you long enough...” is just about what Gakushu was able to manage, as opposed to his usually better snarky commentary. 

Karma gives him one of those mischievous (and cute) smiles and says, “Well, I just couldn’t get enough~ and maybe after you change we can cook something for ourselves and Nagisa. I think he said he would return after he’s done with whatever he’s doing.”

“Sounds like a plan. I’m sure he’ll like what I make better~” Gakushu says.

Karma chuckles and says, “I’ll get a head start while you’re changing.”

Gakushu glares, then counters, “Then I’m starting immediately in the dress. Stealing your clothes can wait; I refuse to be upstaged!” 

“Alright then~ let’s have our little cook off.” Karma says with a smile, watching Gakushu run to the kitchen and set the pile of clothes neatly on the counter and following casually.

And away they cook! They each make their own preferred dishes, being sure to make enough for one another and Nagisa, and though Karma has the advantage of knowing what Nagisa likes, Gakushu has the wide and impressive skill range to make most things he makes taste amazing. They both make a main dish and two sides, and fight over what way to set the table. Then they settle, sit, and wait.

And wait.

And… wait.

Hm.

“So, should we wait for Nagisa? I’m kind of starving.” Karma says.

“Of course we should! It would be rude to make him eat alone.” Gakushu says. 

“Also, why haven’t you gone and changed yet?” Karma asks.

“Because if I leave it gives you the chance to compromise my dish.” Gakushu replies.

The thought Makes karma snicker, but it seems that Gakushu is serious in his concern. It sort of makes him feel bad for him, being stuck with suspicions and doubt so often. Or, alternatively, he was cozy in that dress.

“If you’re so concerned, then change behind me or something. Nobody’s watching.” Karma says sarcastically.

Gakushu, gets up, and walks somewhere behind Karma. Karma, after a few moments, thinking Gakushu is being a jokester, glances back. He’s expecting to see Gakushu with a smug expression or maybe two flipped birds. Instead, he was already fully changed, folding the dress and placing it on another counter. He really just did it. 

When Gakushu gets back to his seat in those neat casual Karma clothes, Karma is very red in the face as he texts on his phone, and Gakushu has no clue why. Gakushu hears his own phone ping. Oh, was Nagisa finally updating them?

Nagisa: hey guys!! Sorry about the radio silence ^^;

Karma: NAGISA

Karma: Good to see you’re with us what have you been doing for like all day

Nagisa: that little problem has kinda turned into one that needed a lot more time, unfortunately! 

Nagisa: it’s annoying for me too, but I should be done with it soon. Or at least quitting for the night. What are you and Gakushu up to?

Karma: oh you know

Karma: just my usual bs

Karma: and. hubris

Gakushu: We made dinner for the three of us. I really want to wait for you to come back so we could all enjoy it together (and settle a score, perhaps), so when will you make it back?

“What do you mean, hubris?” Gakushu asks Karma, who just kinda chuckles and pretends like he’s typing something in their group chat.

Nagisa: Aw, i had no idea! God i wish i was there to try your food, guys :(

Nagisa: I’m sorry, but I don’t know how long this will take. But I will return to you guys, so maybe just… wrap it up for me?

Karma: can do. But seriously, you have to stay over some time lol

Karma: that way you could have some when it’s at its best~

Gakushu: agreed. We could call off the competition for now, it’s a draw since our star judge won’t be trying the dishes in their prime. 

Gakushu: What has you so tied up? Is it anything we could help you with?

Nagisa: Unfortunately, I kinda have to brave it alone.

Nagisa: It has to do with like. Complicated things.

Karma: is this related to something in the past, or is kayano making me jealous by keeping you again?

Gakushu: ?

oH GREAT. MORE LYING. 

Nagisa was not great at this. He prays that kayano is going to answer him. Thankfully she is.

Nagisa: Kaaaayannnooooo!!!!

Nagisa: I’m lying and i feel bad but i need to keep lying

Kayano: Oh no!!

Kayano: tell your liar queen all about it

Nagisa: my little issue is taking me further out of town and I won’t be back till late

Nagisa: and i need to, again, lie to Gakushu and Karma

Nagisa: about what i’m doing

Kayano: I’ve got a good one for you then!!

Kayano: I’ve been thinking of a cool idea for a story for some time, you ready for it??

Kayano: “My Long Lost Lab Twin”!

Nagisa: O.O

Kayano: A girl with a mother that works in stem science often finds herself lonely, not really clicking with those in her new school. One day she’s messing around in her lab and finds what is an exact copy of her. For the worst case scenario, as it was explained in her file, so she lets this sister go and hang out with her exact look alike! But this lookalike can’t exactly human all that well, so she needs all the help she can get to blend in while they both hide away from those who deem her sister a mistake!

Kayano: perfectly excuses your stiff acting and the production of that movie is the perfect excuse if I’m letting you try out to be the lab twin!!

Nagisa: oh my god

Nagisa: as awful of an excuse it sounds coming from anyone else, the fact that you work in film is the only thing that makes this work perfectly.

Nagisa: thanks for saving my butt again ><

Kayano: Np!

Kayano: and once you no longer need covering i could either push for this and get you auditioned for real or say production got shut because of, well, you know. Misogyny.

Nagisa: f

Nagisa: I wouldn’t really wanna be wearing a skirt in a movie anyway. Still too soon ><;

Kayano: and that’s perfectly fine!

Kayano: but i do have to wonder, what’s got you being so secretive? I never did get to ask you.

Kayano: is it something perhaps… I could know about?

Nagisa: I

Nagisa: Don’t know how to explain myself

Nagisa: so I’m not going to :p

Kayano: ...fair. 

Kayano: but reach out if you need help!

Nagisa: Will do. See you around, Kayano.

More like will won’t. 

Karma: ?

Gakushu: must be busy

Karma: he’s still online tho

Gakushu: true.

Karma: Nagisa.

Karma: Nagisa~?

Gakushu: Fool. this is how you prompt a response.

Gakushu: 3

Gakushu: 2

Gakushu: 1

Karma: you failed

Gakushu: FUCK.

Karma: I’m telling you, it’s calling his name gently in chat.

Karma: us in E do it all the time

Karma: once everyone or nearly everyone gently calls his name, he is summoned

Gakushu: so call for him 27 times is what you’re telling me to do

Karma: yes

Gakushu: there has to be a simpler way

Gakushu:  like adding snakes? he likes those, right? 🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍

Karma:  you’re onto something, but let’s think bigger!

Gakushu: Hmm…

Gakushu: 🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍 N a g i sssss a ?🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍

Nagisa: hey! Was just getting permission to tell you the thing

Karma: you did it Gakushu

Gakushu: of course i did

Karma: good job. Anyways, permission?

Nagisa: Yeah. Kayano really wanted me to try out in a part for one of her films, she can tell you about it more but basically I’d be a stunt double or something.

Nagisa: all i know is that i don’t really wanna end up in drag again but i don’t want to dissappoint

Gakushu: then tell her no and come back.

Nagisa: but i feel bad :(

Karma: well, just make sure you get some rest either way. Your food’s gonna be waiting for you.

Nagisa: Thanks Karma :)

Karma: np!

With that much settled, the two boys sit in silence for a bit. Both of them really wanted Nagisa to be there, but it couldn’t be helped. And after a moment, Gakushu glances between Karma and his plate, sticks his fork in the dish Karma made, and takes a bite.

Karma gasps, “You’re eating!”

Gakushu replies, “Yes, while it’s still a bit warm. I suggest you join me, he’s not going to be back anytime soon. I feel sucky about it, but it can’t be helped.”

Karma, through a mouthful of food already, says, “I agree. Sad but I’m starving.” 

The boys eat in a somewhat silence, afterwards they take care of the table and save those leftovers for Nagisa. After Karma feeds his iguana, the boys retreat to the couch once more, settling on playing games together for a while. They were a bit competitive about it of course, but also… undeniably saddened by the absence of the third.

“I’m gonna kick Kayano’s ass for keeping Nagisa so long.” Karma mutters, pouting as he rapidly taps a button on his controller. 

“At this point, I’m in the same boat.” Gakushu agrees.

“...I bet it’s not even a real movie. She’s just doin’ it to spite me…” 

“Don’t say that. She’s got no ill will and she doesn’t even hold a candle to the relations you have with that boy.” 

“I guess not. But I still wonder if they’re even doing a movie.”

“Maybe he’s shopping for us. I know it's way too early… but we’re pretty hard to shop for, so she’s pitching in.” 

Karma smiles. “Yeah. maybe. God, Imagine spending the holidays together…” 

“It’s twice the gifts. Or at least, I always think it should be. And that sounds… nice. More pleasant than any other option” Gakushu replies sleepily.

“True.” Karma says.

A little more time passes, the game’s boss music serving as a sort of background to Gakushu’s thoughts. What kind of thing, if he really was lying, deserved so much secrecy? Sure, presents were a nice thought, but that seems so far off from now. But he really, really likes that idea. And it’s so Nagisa, it seems, to be so secretive over something so silly. That’s just it, right? That’s all it is; Nagisa being cute. He’ll have to think of gifts to give the both of them. Lots and lots of gifts. Not even just because Karma’s birthday is so near christmas. Just because they both deserve so much. He was sure he’d have the funds…    
  
  


_ He knows. _

  
  


That thought is small, and ever so simplistic, but those two little words hit him like a bullet to the head.  _ What if he figured him out? What if he got suspicious and found the truth? _

Gakushu’s hands began to tremble as those floodgates of possibility open.  _ Is he okay? Does Kayano know? Who else knows? Is he fighting for his life right now? _

And worse yet;  _ was that even him texting them before? _

And just like that, he felt impossibly sick. Fears, guilt, absolute rage at the thought of someone getting hurt again, just because he wasn’t quite there with hiding his own plans to protect. All of it got to him so badly, for a moment he couldn’t stop tears from pooling in his eyes. He wipes at them hastily, trying not to let Karma see it.  _ He has to go, he has to help Nagisa, right now right now- _

“Gakushu?” Karma’s voice cuts through the panic just enough to make him look over.

It must’ve been written all over his face, because Karma’s calm quickly turned to concern. He sets down the controller, a hand outstretched, just about to ask him what’s wrong-

_ You can’t let him know,  _ is all Gakushu can think. Instead of letting that comfort trap him into staying put, he stands up and begins moving for the door, explaining as he moves.

“I need to get clothes,” Gakushu lies, “not only that, but i forgot my notebooks too. All my stuff is at home and my father probably is wondering where i am. I need to go gather my things and bullshit something in person so he won’t be paranoid.” 

With that big fat lie laid out, he takes something from the clothes he came in, and slips out the door with it. But of course, Karma follows to watch him, and definitely notices him going in the complete opposite direction. As tired as Karma was, he wasn’t tired enough to not follow.

Gakushu was acting like a cornered animal at this point. Catching him would be easy, with the clear panic messing up the poor boy’s pace, but he figured he’d follow until Gakushu showed him the truth, or ran out of steam with no choice but to talk.

As far as he knows, this is how he’ll find out the truth everyone is keeping from him. 

It’s nothing they couldn’t handle. Right?

…

Nagisa stands outside a neat little building for those in long-term medical care. He’s beyond pissed that he has to be here, but it’s as Ritsu said; leave no stone unturned. Shiro was definitely one of those big stones, and even if that stone got tossed across a river and landed on its other side, it may need a bit more of a nudge to be fully turned. It was easy to walk in, being easy to miss and equally inconspicuous. He reached the very retired mad scientist in no time, first observing how he really could do absolutely nothing on his own, reveling in that irony, and then waiting for the caretaker to leave. When he comes in, the fear is clear in shiro’s eye.

“Greetings, Mr. Yanagisawa. I came here to have a little talk. Can you do that?” Nagisa asked.

At first, it seemed like he genuinely couldn’t respond. But a little looking reveals a rhythmic moving of his fingers; he was doing his best at morse code.

“What more do you want from me?” is what he tapped out.

“Well, I’m out tying up some loose ends, and this thought has been bothering me - tell me, did you really have nothing else up your sleeves? No more projects?” Nagisa asks.

More, agonizingly slow, tapping. “Nothing related to assassination.”

“So you mean there’s other monsters?” Nagisa asks.

Shiro’s glare is an easy indicator of No.

“Alright. Then what about antimatter? Kayano and Itona always made it sound like there were injections. Can you tell me about where you keep those? And if they’re safely locked away?” Nagisa asks.

“Injections, yes. Stored in main lab unless gov. Interference, among other projects. Gov. personnel have all access.” shiro taps.

“You seem all too eager to answer. You’re not lying, are you?” Nagisa asks.

“No. no reason to lie.” 

“Are the other projects sentient or hostile?”

“Shouldn’t be. Most living things are kept in stasis.”

“How do i get in? And where do i go to get to this lab? I just want to make sure these things are either destroyed, or left for me to dispose of.” Nagisa asks.

And then, a twitch of a smile. The last few important taps of morse make Nagisa’s heart sink.

“Ask Itona.” 

Nagisa is quiet for a while. He didn’t want to involve anybody else in something like this, but at least Itona wouldn’t know who they were hunting. Or at least, not much of them anyways.

“Alright. I guess that’s everything. Anything you want to ask me?” Nagisa asks, shuffling over to the window and opening it up. A warm breeze drifts in.

“Aren’t you here to finish me off for your monster? To kill me, too?” Shiro questions, the tapping noise lost to the wind.

“Kill you?” Nagisa repeats.

He’s quiet for a moment, sitting on that window sill. He glances over at shiro one last time. His eyes are cold.

“Why? You’re stuck there, unable to move or move on. I think it’s perfect, as a punishment for you. Your very own hell on earth is being unable to do a single thing for yourself. It serves you right.” Nagisa answers.

He doesn’t wait for a reply, simply moving on into the night. He was going to dial it, but Ritsu had him beat.

“Hello?” Itona greets him.

“Hey, Itona. I need your help, but this might be a bit much to ask.” Nagisa says.

“Well, tell me and I’ll decide.” Itona says.

“First you have to promise not to talk to anybody about what I ask. No karma, no group chat, no terasaka or otherwise. Nobody but you, me, and Ritsu. Okay?” Nagisa says.

“Hm. understood. What’s going on?” Itona asks.

“I need to find an old lab location, fast. I hear you’re one of the only people that can tell me where it is at least.” Nagisa says.

A long pause ensues. For a moment, Nagisa thought the boy had hung up.

“Itona?” Nagisa says, “You don’t have to, I’m probably just being-”

“No. it’s fine.” Itona interjects, “If you’re talking about that place, then it’s obvious you’re on some threat stopping quest. I’ll take you there, just go to the coordinates I send you. Alright?”

“Okay. thanks, Itona, I owe you one.” Nagisa says.

“You sure do.” Itona replies, before hanging up abruptly.

Moments later, coordinates are set. Ritsu does her best to cheer Nagisa, simply telling him all his over-the-phone interactions are often relatively short and clunky like that. Nagisa appreciates her try at helping, but nonetheless is still pretty worried overall. He hates that he has to get Itona to go back to what’s likely a traumatic place for him. He hates having to do this when he could be spending time with those he promised to be with in the first place, and he hates having to keep all these secrets just to protect them.

And all because who decided to rear their ugly head once again and force him to think 20 steps ahead? Takaoka. Just the name alone makes him cringe.

But even so, Nagisa takes some deep breaths, reaching for that calming pressure point. Getting angry like that was bad for an assassin, he has to go for this with a clear head or else the target could overwhelm you or escape.  _ Smile _ , he remembers, because his target hates anyone but themselves being happy. 

After some time and traveling, Nagisa makes it to his destination, and Itona is already there waiting. He’s wearing a fluffy scarf paired with the old E class assassin gear. A scarf he was very busy pressing his face into to calm down.

“Hey. ready to go?” Nagisa asks.

“I am. You’re not.” Itona says, pointing to Nagisa’s casual clothes. 

“Oh. yeah. I guess I should’ve brought my old gear… haha…” Nagisa says softly.

Itona picks up a bag that he had hid in the bushes, and produces another set of E class gear. Wait, where did he get a second one?

“Take my old one. You’ll still fit.” Itona explains and before Nagisa can ask he says, “I’m wearing Terasaka’s old suit.”

Nagisa is sort of shocked, but then notices that Itona not only grew a bit in the past few years, but put on a bit more weight, too. Not to a dramatic degree, but to the point where Terasaka’s suit didn’t look all that baggy on him. Nonetheless, Nagisa thanks him somewhat awkwardly and dawns the outfit. After being equipped with two knives and two guns by Itona (one real and one anti-matter of each), the boys head out with Itona at the lead. 

It’s not long until their run through the woods (and some treetops) had brought them to a gated off, low to the ground building. It looked very abandoned, with graffiti covering the musty white walls and the door completely missing. They enter through a rusted hole in the gate. Itona flicks a flashlight on and illuminates the area inside the building, pressing the scarf into his face with his other hand. Creatures that love the dark shy away from the light, somewhat freaking Nagisa out, but not enough to make him trigger happy. Eventually he found a spot where a brick had been jutting out slightly, and pulled it away to reveal a keycard slot. Holding the flashlight in his mouth, Itona fishes an old card out of one of his pockets and shoves it in the hole. What was thought to be nothing on the neighboring wall slides out and away to reveal an elevator, leaving only the option to go down.

“Step inside.” Itona instructs as he removes the flashlight from his mouth and takes that card out.

Nagisa goes in, Followed by Itona. The doors slide shut quietly, and the ride down is long and quiet, the florescent light in the elevator occasionally dimming slightly. It must’ve been two minutes of descending before the doors slide open. 

“Do you… mind if I ask what shiro had down here?” Nagisa asks softly.

“...mostly animals. Test animals, occasionally other humans, well, one other experiment, it think. Maybe. It’s hard to remember if anyone was down here with me… so much of it feels like a bad dream… and of course, some robotics, but those were moreso training mechanisms than anything fully autonomous.” Itona explains. 

“I see… how well do you know your way around?” Nagisa asks.

“There was a point where I really wanted to leave. Be on my own. I couldn’t… will myself to do it. Especially when I learned the hard way tentacles need maintenance. Less of a design flaw, more of a chain. But to answer, I know pretty much every hall.” Itona replies. 

“Alright. I’m… sorry you went through all that.” Nagisa says. 

“Don’t be.” Itona says, tangling his fingers in that fluffy scarf as he says, “You can’t go back and change it. Besides, I got to meet everyone by toughing it out.”

The corridor at the bottom of that long elevator is rather dark, with only some low lights casting a bluish glow across the walls. Since Itona could see clearly in them, he travels on without the flashlight, motioning for Nagisa to come along. They move quietly down the halls, occasionally listening at cross-sections. It looks pretty abandoned to Nagisa, but again, looks could be deceiving. At one point, Itona lowers his backpack and pulls out a small drone. 

“I’m going to have it look around the spots we won’t be heading. What you want to check on is the antimatter area, right? Where samples and such would be kept. It should be empty, I know… but we should keep to a set path, especially if something really is still down here. Even if it ends up destroyed, I’ll still have footage from it’s voyage.” Itona explains. 

“Sounds good. Does it have a name?” Nagisa asks.

“Of course. Their name is Stardust Crusader.” Itona says.

Nagisa can’t help but smile. “Perfect name.” He compliments.

“Thanks, I know.” Itona says, placing the drone on the floor and watching it as it zips down the hall it was set down. 

They continue onto the room they set out for. The journey itself is uneventful, but Nagisa is doing his best to ensure Itona that he’s still there with him. It’s quiet down there, and both of them are reluctant to talk in case someone else is there. So side-by-side they go, exploring together. They have no signal, so far underground, just Ritsu tagging along on Itona’s phone, being equally quiet as their best pair of eyes in the dark. 

They make it to their destination safely, and the room seemed to have been stripped of several larger pieces of equipment, left to collect dust. The only thing left was a bit of computer, a few lights that sparked when turned on. Itona walks over to the computer, booting it up, and taking off his backpack again. He guesses the password on his first try.

“That’s what I thought it’d be, you piece of shit scientist.” Itona mutters under his breath.

“Nice. so… is there anything to find?” Nagisa asks.

“Lets’ see…” Itona says, fingers moving rapidly across the keys. He even plugs his phone into the computer so Ritsu can help him search. 

Itona, after a few minutes, seems to relax. There’s even a bit more of a noticeable calm in his voice, compared to how tense and monotone it had been the whole time.

“Most equipment in the lab has been destroyed, and the animal subjects have been safely euthanized, watched over or detonated. If it can’t be destroyed, it’s been locked away under very strong keys, with constant government surveillance to make sure nothing is missing. The only things missing before the purge of everything here were me, because I’m part of the class, and some sort of other project that is described as harmless and unimportant. There’s data on 2.0 as well, but we all know what happened to him. Looks like the monster threw a fit before it came to fight sensei and caused a lot of damage anyways.” Itona says.

“That’s good, I guess. But what’s Shiro’s definition of harmless?” Nagisa asks.

“Either a favor he did for those he’s connected to for the assassination project, like say any of our teachers minus koro or even the principal wanted something done, or maybe… a messup. Honestly, it’s hard to think of what it would be… and I’m trying to remember. But it’s sort of like playing Operation. One wrong step is a stun gun to my thoughts.” Itona explains, tapping a finger to his temple and going, “Bzzt. Breakdown. So I’m… not really good at remembering the events that took place down here. Especially when i could only worry about myself. Sorry.”

“Its fine, Itona. I wouldn’t want to push you. And at this point, I don’t think there’s anything that either of us could do. If anything, it’s just another secret with the government.” Nagisa says.

“Yeah…” Itona mumbles, “Or Korosensei’s taking care of them.”

That… held a lot of weight. Nagisa wasn’t sure what to say, so Ritsu pops herself up onto the computer screen.

“Itona…? Are you good?” She asks.

He shrugs.

“Alright. I’m just gonna… do this.” she begins to fiddle with and download surveillance files as she says, “But really, don’t worry about it. Everything down here was out of your hands, alright? And like you said, everything happened how it did for a reason. You’re in a good position now, so let’s think about that.”

“I know… i know, i know. There’s nothing I could’ve done.” Itona says softly. Taking that scarf in his hands again, trying to use it to keep his mind elsewhere, he says, “I just want to believe whatever it was is safe. Or at peace. And not down here, alone. Or suffering or upset-”

“Itona.” Nagisa interrupts him, and tries to reach out and comfort him.

Itona spun around in the chair, eyes fierce, shifting in colors as they always seemed to do when he got distressed.

“Didn’t you come down here because you thought about it too? What if there’s someone still down, or around up there even, who got injected and is still out there suffering or trapped with them? Tentacles are  _ painful, _ Nagisa. It hurts infinitely worse when there’s no treatment! I came down here expecting to have to put something out of its misery. Or even just… to find them dead and twitching on the ground. Dying or dead because I wasn’t paying attention to anyone else but myself back then…” 

“And why was that bad of you to do? In the face of someone like shiro, you did what you had to in order to survive. You weren’t responsible for anyone but yourself, and playing hero in that situation could have easily gotten you killed, even when you had tentacles. It’s not your fault, and you shouldn’t feel guilty. Not over something out of your hands, and not over the gaps in your memory.” Ritsu says.

“She’s right. You shouldn’t let those thoughts get to you. And if that someone is still out there, there’s a chance they’re not injected. They were just let out, living a good life just like you. And if they happen to be gone… well, they know you cared. You did come back, after all. They’re not mad at all.” Nagisa says.

“...You sure?” Itona asks quietly.

“I’m sure.” Nagisa says.

“Same here. You know what? I’ll look through all this myself, okay? You don’t have to worry, and I’ll let you know what happened. For now, let’s get you guys home. I bet Terasaka is gonna pay for your fave fast food whether he likes it or not.” Ritsu says, giving him a mischievous wink. 

“Okay…” Itona says. 

Ritsu moves herself back to Itona’s phone, a little backpack appearing on her shoulders. “I’ve got all your troubles in my little cloud storage here. Let’s get outta here.” 

Itona simply nods, and stands back up. He simply grabs Nagisa’s sleeve and leads him back out. As fast as possible. When they’re back up in the elevator, Itona pulls his little headband over his eyes, not wanting to cry in front of either of them.

“Ritsu. Anything on the Crusader?” Itona asks.

“Not really, no. all clear.” Ritsu says.

“Good.” Itona says. 

When they’re back on the surface and out of the woods, they actually did run into Terasaka (and gang) looking for Itona. 

“What’s going on?? Why is he like that???” Terasaka asks, gesturing to the on the verge of tears boy.

“An emotional journey. What matters is that he’s safe and he gets some rest.” Nagisa answers simply.

“And the blindfold?” Yoshida asks.

“The last resort when his eyes fail to keep the tears in!” Ritsu calls out, causing Itona to shut his phone off.

“Oh, that bad, huh…” Hazama says.

Itona is gently taken into the care of the squad. He goes from death gripping Nagisa’s sleeve to cutting off the circulation in Terasaka’s arm. Terasaka seemed used to it.

“We can take him from here. Thanks for helping him out and stuff.” Muramatsu says.

“No problem!” Nagisa replies.

“Just tell me about what happened later.” Terasaka says.

“Will do…” Nagisa says.

At this time, Nagisa’s phone got a bit of wi-fi back, and missed messages came flooding back. He takes a look at his phone and goes, “Shoot, I gotta go. I forgot I was going to hang out at Karma’s again tonight. Thanks again!”

And off he runs before anybody can stop him or ask what he was doing in the first place. Not only did he not want to end up having to spill secrets in that moment, he figures that it would be best to give it a break for the night and return to those he left. And catch up on the messages his boys had left him.

Karma: Geez, it’s been so long.

Karma: are you going to be here soon?

Karma: Maybe we should just meet up. Where are you?

He was just about to answer before he noticed some more messages in another chat. Gakushu was messaging him in private. He wondered why for a moment, as he opens the separate chat. The messages that appear make his blood run cold.

Gakushu: DON’T ANSWER HIM

Gakushu: IT’S NOT KARMA. DO NOT ANSWER

Gakushu: CALL FOR HELP. AVOID THE MOUNTAIN


	7. A Night in the Classroom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gakushu promised to protect what he cares about - and it's a promise he's going to keep no matter what.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know how this is tagged, "Graphic depictions of violence"? 
> 
> yeah. there will be blood.
> 
> enjoy ;)

_ Meanwhile, during Nagisa’s investigation of Shiro… _

Gakushu, through the power of panic and running like someone’s life depended on it (and he honestly thought Nagisa’s would), he has made it to the mountain in which the old building resides. Though the government guys had been long gone from that afternoon, a little makeshift bridge had been left in that gap on the trail, making Gakushu’s run much easier. But he was running out of steam thanks to all the panic, and he only had enough strength for a few bursts of sprinting when Karma nearly caught up to him. He didn’t have the breath to shout at him to go back home, or anything like that left. His only focus was trying to find Nagisa, to do something to help.

But nobody but the wind was at that old classroom, and the door’s lock was fixed without a trace of tampering. Nobody but nobody was there. Gakushu didn’t know whether he was relieved or terrified, but he did know that he still didn’t want to have to tell Karma the truth. He glanced back to see how far away he was, hoping he had the time to breathe, or think of a way to hide-

But just as he slows and looks, Karma has caught up, arms around Gakushu before he could even think to stop him. Gakushu tries to break free, but panic combined with that long run had left him breathless. Eventually, he knew if he tried anymore, Karma would opt for forcing him to the ground and sitting on him, and he didn’t want to have to go through that. So in Karma’s grasp he stays, gasping for breath, avoiding the glare he knew was waiting for him. 

“So… shu… would you explain to me why the hell you’re running up here of all places?” Karma asks him.

Karma couldn’t deny that this sort of got him angry after a while. Especially if it has to do with something around here, it really irked him. Why was he being kept in the dark like this? What did Gakushu think he was doing? Did he even mean to come up here? He was trying so hard to figure him out. It was definitely getting him pissed off, the more this drags on and the more Gakushu tried not to look at him, as if he were some sort of bad guy…

If he wanted a devilish Karma, he’s getting it if he won’t talk!

Was he not hearing? Was the light-headedness caused by his impulsive decision getting to him that badly? Karma had to wonder.

He leans in closer and growls, “Gakushu. Why don’t you talk to me, huh? It’s a real dick move to make me worry like that. C’mon, talk.” 

He didn’t let his guard down, keeping one arm tight around Gakushu while he uses his other hand to try and get Gakushu to look at him. When Gakushu finally did, Karma could definitely see the panic still clear, and the slight, little squints that told him he was fighting back tears. Karma felt kind of bad…

Then Gakushu headbutted him and tried to struggle out of his grasp. Karma’s immediate response to pain is to knee Gakushu in the gut with one swift and hard motion. With that, Gakushu’s air and will to fight are depleted. 

Karma sighs, and drags Gakushu over to Class E. he picks the lock as usual, and helps Gakushu inside, shutting the door behind him. They travel over to the classroom to sit. Karma takes a moment to breathe, and lets Gakushu catch enough breath to speak.

“Sorry about that. I had a moment.” Karma apologizes bluntly.

“Whatever… I might’ve deserved it.” Gakushu admits bitterly.

There’s another period of silence. Karma is trying to have patience, but he’s sick of trying to piece things together with the bare minimum of hints. They stare at each other from across a desk, reflective and tired purple eyes against impatient, barely illuminated gold. 

“So. why don’t you tell me about where this little secret started? It would be simpler that way, right? You know I won’t let you go until you tell me something.” Karma says.

“I didn’t want to get you involved. I didn’t want Nagisa involved either… but I guess something from a past both of you know better really will pull you into the madness no matter what.” Gakushu mutters softly.

“And what do you mean by that? Don’t tell me there’s another overpowered experiment on the loose.” Karma says.

“Not an experiment… but a very… monstrous brute.” he smiles nervously as he says, “If I recall, my father came up here to personally give him the pink slip. He was that awful…”

That sentence puts a knot in Karma’s gut. Rather than immediately start screaming like he wanted to, Karma rapidly taps his fingers on the desk, taking a deep breath.

“So. Takaoka, huh? The son of a bitch who dreams of seeing Nagisa cry, eh? The bastard who really, really tried to kill everyone in my class? This is who you’re dealing with, and you thought it would be perfectly fine to just say, ‘let me keep his targets out of this! He could kill them any time and I’ll just fucking leave it be.’ of all the stupid things you could actively decide to do, THIS IS THE WORST.”

“I know.” Gakushu replied simply.

“Oh i bet! Who trusted you with the intel on him? Did Irina join us on that Karaoke date to babysit and let it slip while you ran after her? I bet that happened, didn’t it? You were acting so oddly that night.” Karma guesses.

“Correct.” Gakushu muttered, looking down.

“So let’s see, you decided to handle this fucker yourself, trusted Irina of all people to help you, and got lessons from a guy that has an ultra sensitive bullshit alarm. And it only occured to you TODAY that he saw right past your lies? Or even knew from the beginning?” karma says.

“Yep.” he says.

“Why the fuck didn’t you just fucking tell me?! Why would you try so hard to keep this secret and make yourself suffer?!” Karma growls.

Gakushu doesn’t answer.

“What, is it another goddamn stronger than thou manifesto? Were you just so sure you could handle it better than anybody else, so you figured it was okay? Was it funny to you?”

He shakes his head.

“Then why? What reason do you have for doing this?” Karma asks, trying not to shout too loud, but he’s distressed. 

“Because. I’m an idiot when it comes to feelings.” Gakushu says, “All I’ve really valued, for a really long time… is whether or not you were happy. Well, you and Nagisa. His smile easily blinded me, and your happiness was easy motivation too. I didn’t want you to have to deal with it. I thought I could help your old teachers catch him, or at least protect you both. I realized my skills in fighting weren’t nearly polished enough, so I thought I could just ask Nagisa for some pointers without it being suspicious. I guess I really was an idiot to believe you guys wouldn’t find it out if I tried hard enough.” 

Now, Karma was left with a lack of words. Gakushu tried to fake a confident smile, but little pinpricks of tears began falling already. Gakushu stood, trying to look angry or defiant rather than sad.

“It’s fine. Go ahead, be angry. I would be too. I kept a terrible secret, lost sleep over it, ran across town because of one paranoid idea and caused you to chase me up here. But nobody’s here. I’m… sorry I betrayed your trust, okay? You should get back home, Nagisa is probably there by now… and I’m sure that right now, you’d rather be around him.” Gakushu says.

“And where do you think you’re going?” Karma asked.

Gakushu shrugged. He didn’t want to be at home, but he really didn’t think he could just go with Karma at this point. He just felt out of place. Ridiculous, idiotic. Not only about being wrong, but about how he just couldn’t get the grip on himself that he wanted. He stands up and begins to leave, but Karma grabs the back of his jacket.

“No. No shrugging it off. How the hell do you expect me to just go home without you?” Karma asks, glancing over to the door.

“I don’t know. You just do it?” Gakushu replies.

“No, I don’t. You’re coming with me, and we’ll make it through all this BS.” Karma says.

He takes Gakushu’s hand, leading him out to the hall. As they quietly pass vacant desks, Gakushu begins to feel like he was able to breathe better. His shoulders relax, even with the lingering dislike of likely having to have a talk with both his friends on what he knew. A strong sense of stability from Karma came with the pining package, Gakushu guesses. With no lights on, it was darker the further into the building they went, so Karma flicks the light of his cellphone on as he walked out into the hallway. For a moment, there was a bit of confusion as he felt Karma’s hand slip out of his own.

Until he saw the huge, bulky figure down the dimly lit hallway. 

Scratch scars covered the surfaces of his cheeks, some almost connecting across his nose and up to his bottom eyelids. Eyes wild, like an enraged beast, and a crooked, twisted smile.

Acting as fast as he could, Gakushu tries to find the knife he had brought, but it was nowhere to be found on his person. Karma had stolen it away, without him even noticing.

“I Hoped I’d never have to see that ugly face again. I admit, I expected all that cheek flesh to be gone from that stupid itching you do.” Karma spoke, taking a few steps closer, keeping the flashlight in the monster’s eyes.

“You… where the fuck is that little shit?!” Takaoka growls. 

Karma chuckles softly. There’s a distinct acidity to his voice as he says, “As if I’d just tell you that, fatass. He’s nowhere near here, anyway.” 

“Then you’ll make  _ perfect _ bait!” Takaoka says, and charges at Karma.

Karma flicks the light of his phone off, plunging the hall into darkness. Gakushu slips back into the classroom, looking to grab a chair to beat their enemy over the head with. Chaos and clattering happens behind him. His eyes could adjust quickly, so he could see relatively well what happened in the hall as he comes back out. Karma had successfully sidestepped Takaoka’s run at him and got a few good strikes in with that knife on the monster’s back. Karma, in return, has a cut on his cheek, and a knife in his leg. Specifically, the upper thigh. Karma hit the ground pretty hard too, having been shoved, and Takaoka would’ve gotten to him a second time if Gakushu didn’t nail him in the head as hard as possible with the chair. 

Quickly, Gakushu runs for Karma, picking him up, slinging him over a shoulder and running for their lives. He knew the chair probably wouldn’t stun that beast long, and that he’d be on them in another moment. 

“Let me back at him. I’m not done with that fucker.” Karma growls.

Gakushu would’ve yelled at him, but right now his air was being used for running. They need to be fast, or at the very least extremely quiet. Gakushu went off path, but he just hoped for a place to hide - he knew the main campus was locked down tight at this hour, so he didn’t have any familiar ground to hide himself away in. Besides, with the wound Karma had gotten, the blood would be way too easy to see on those floors. 

At some point in his run, Gakushu finds a small, low to the ground cave with just enough room to crawl into, with roots hanging over the entrance. He almost missed it with how low it was. He moves Karma into the small spot, then squeezes himself in too. A perfect little shelter with enough space to sit, much to Gakushu’s relief. 

But he can’t rest just yet; Karma needs some medical attention, and if he can, Gakushu needs to erase any evidence of their run to this spot. Luckily, no major arteries were struck, but Karma was still very bloody and stuck with that thing. Even luckier still, Karma had clung to the knife he attacked Takaoka with too. Gakushu tries to take it back from him, but Karma’s grip is still strong.

“What’re you plannin’ to do with that?” Karma mutters softly.

“You need some sort of makeshift bandaging. Why don’t you keep your hands busy by calling the police or something? You’re not fit to fight right now, that much is obvious, and you may have a concussion from that fall too.” Gakushu whispers harshly.

“Sad. But fine. Only if you don’t rip what you’re wearing. That’s one of my favorite jackets… just use the fabric from my pants leg, you have to cut that away to get a look at the injury anyways.” Karma says, reluctantly letting go.

“Fine. Do you carry a lighter at least?” Gakushu says.

Karma nods, and hands off the lighter. In a time like this, Gakushu was very glad to have the multiple skill sets that he did. He wipes their free knife clean of blood and flicks the lighter on, heating the blade. Once ready enough, it’s time to remove the other blade and press the dull end of their heated metal on the wound.

“This is gonna suck. Bite your sleeve, okay?” Gakushu warns.

Karma nods, and holds his hands to his mouth. “Couldn’t find my phone, by the way. I fuckin’ dropped it.” He speaks, somewhat muffled. After the remark, he bites down on the ends of his sleeves. 

Gakushu takes a deep breath. He hated this so much, but he needed to do this. He didn’t want Karma to bleed out.  _ Just pretend it’s a lesson,  _ Gakushu tells himself.  _ You have to be careful. Pretend it’s for a grade, and the principal is watching. You need to do well. _ And with a quick, precise movement, gakushu pulls the blade in Karma’s leg out. He winces at Karma’s muffled cry, but continues on, trying to will the pain and fear away. He has to work fast, cauterizing took timing and, again, extreme care. Press, one, two, remove. Over and over, he repeats the process until the blood finally begins to slow. He could barely hear himself as he kept whispering apologies to Karma, over everything.

Once done, Gakushu sets the knife to the side, and bandages the wound with the fabric they had, swiftly slicing the material with the freed and sharper blade to make it as long as they needed, wrapping the wound as tight as he could allow it. His hands were covered in blood by the end of it. He sits back, and only then does he really start trembling. The need to cry doesn’t help his breathing at all. He always hated blood. He hated being afraid. Before it slips his mind, he fishes his own phone out of his pocket, and seeing that the bastard had found Karma’s phone, sends some warnings to Nagisa before anything else.

The sight of the blood, and the highly threatening fear of this actually being the end set him off so badly. Gakushu was scared, stressed, and numb all at once. The only thing that disrupted the dogpile of panicked thoughts was a pair of arms wrapping around him and holding him close. Gakushu hid his face from Karma. He’d be ashamed if he could feel the tears streaming down his cheeks. 

“You were right… that really sucked.” Karma says softly, trying not to sound in pain, “But it’s okay. We’ll be fine, I’m sure. You don’t have to apologize… I forgive you.” 

They stay like this for a while, Gakushu having no idea how to respond. Being forgiven helped a bit, but with the way the night was going, he didn’t feel like he deserved that. After all, he pretty much walked into this mess, and Karma followed him right along. 

If only that stupid, fat bastard wasn’t here at all. None of this would’ve happened. 

And just like Gakushu had predicted, Takaoka had followed their path. Karma must’ve bled enough of a trail. From their spot, as he glanced out at the clearing nearby, he could see that monster plain as day, squinting in the darkness, taking his time looking for his prey as he seemed slowed by injuries and unfamiliarity. 

_ It’s all his fault. _

Gakushu sits back, looking out at him. He sets his phone down by Karma.

“Gakushu,” Karma whispers, clearly unable to see as far in the dark, “What do you see…? Don’t go jumping at shadows… it’s probably an animal.” 

For once, that fear was dying away, being replaced by something else. It was a somewhat foreign feeling, but at the same time so familiar. If he could just make that monster  _ disappear… _ a plan begins to form, as he turns back to Karma. What he had to do was clearer than ever before.

His goal was in mind, and now all that was left was to do anything to achieve it. Even if it meant getting hurt.

“Gakushu-”

Before Karma could dissuade him, Gakushu decides to shut him up. Gakushu presses his lips against Karma’s, reaching for the bigger of the knives they had as he did.

After that short moment of bliss, he pulls away, moving out of his grasp. Nagisa was right; Karma was easy to fluster if you knew what to do. “Keep quiet. Unless you wanna die too.” Gakushu whispered.

Suddenly realizing what was happening, Karma tried to reach out for him, but Gakushu was already out of his reach, shedding that jacket he was lent and placing it gently on the ground. And with no ability to see in that darkness, all Karma had to go by was sound and vague figures.

Gakushu moves as quietly as he can, sticking to the shadows of the trees. He watched the monster as it glanced and squints, alert to every little sound it hears. He knew how tough it would be to stab this brute, and that it was possible he could only get a damaging hit in one area. He was already pretty blinded, so Gakushu figures decreasing mobility was the best shot he has. It has to be fast, and as quiet as he possibly can be. 

“Where aaaare you? Just give it up already kids, maybe i’ll think about letting you keep an eye each!” Takaoka calls out, cackling madly.

For good measure, Gakushu picks a large rock up from the forest floor, and tosses it as hard as possible in an off direction to draw Takaoka’s attention. Then with his knife ready, he lunges at the monster.

On the bright side, he stabbed more successfully than Karma had, getting a deep cut on Takaoka’s leg, and following up with a strong slice on his arm. But on his attempt to retreat, Gakushu was grabbed by the wrist. One swift squeeze and twist from this brute was all it took to break it, and on top of that, he was tossed far and hits the ground hard.

Gakushu tries to get to his feet quickly, but the brute doesn’t make this easy. He had to roll to avoid him charging at him. As soon as Gakushu stands, he moves back, ignoring his pains in his arm and chest. He wanted to end him, once and for all.

For Karma, for Nagisa, and those he held dear. There’s no way they’d be safe with someone like this lurking around. 

Just a few more cuts, if he could make him lose enough blood… 

Gakushu continues to fight, pushing his limits time and time again, causing a great deal of damage. But as a veteran, military fighter, Takaoka was near impossible to take down alone. Gakushu took multiple painful blows, and on one last hard toss, the knife slips from Gakushu’s grasp. He struggles to reach that blade once more, but Takaoka delivers a sharp kick to his side. 

“You little bastard… didn’t your daddy ever tell you not to stick your nose into other people’s business?” Takaoka growls.

Gakushu simply glares up at him. But no answer prompts that monster to stomp on him again. 

“I didn’t hear you! Speak up, you little shit!” he roars.

Gakushu has no response but a cry of pain, and Takaoka simply beats on him more, until blood dripped from his nose and mouth. Gakushu felt near passing out, the corners of his vision blurring out. He was surprised he didn’t throw up yet, but he felt it coming on. Luckily, Takaoka grew bored of beating on a kid who gave no reaction.

“Ah well. I’ve got no clue who the fuck you are, but I know you were protecting one of those E-class brats. I bet he’s bleeding to death nearby, right? Somewhere that way, right?” Takaoka says.

The way Takaoka pointed was the direction their little hideout had been in. he yells, “You think I wouldn’t fuckin’ notice you tryharding it every time I got close to there?! You little fuckers think you could get away with ANYTHING.” 

Gakushu watches him pick the knife up off the ground. That anger was growing in him again, and panic was rising. No, not panic. Something else. Something much more familiar, even more so than fear. 

A story his father once told him echoes in his head.

“Well, It’s time you little kids be punished. I think dragging that Karma kid out by the hair and stabbing him to death will teach you both a lesson!” 

Gakushu forces himself up, that old feeling reigniting that bloodlust flame. He reaches into the grass nearby, dragging himself upward.

All it takes is reaching your lowest point.

“I could see it now! Nagisa rushes over here to save his  _ precious _ friend, but he’s already dead in a bloody heap on the ground!”

There was no way in hell he’d allow it.

“Oh, I can see it now! The look on his face,  _ finally,  _ the good night’s rest to follow!”

Takaoka’s stroll is only interrupted by something small flying into the side of his head. He tries to slap the insect and kill it, but ends up missing. The insect in question, a Luna moth, flutters away from him, momentarily drawing his attention from the destination and focusing his attention on the sheer amount of them nearby. In the air, relaxing on the trees… fluttering in and out of the haze of darkness.

And then a sudden, strange feeling of dread.

Takaoka turns, and is immediately hit with a heavy rock. The force and shock make him stagger, and Gakushu pushes him further off balance, a scream of anger released as he keeps delivering blows with that rock, fast and mercilessly. Only when Takaoka stops moving does he stop. Gakushu wrestles the knife from his hand, and pins him to the ground with it. And with that, he stands up, unsteady on his feet from that battle.

He staggers to the den, kneeling down and fishing that jacket out of the cave.

“Karma, it’s over… come to the front, I’ll carry you out.” Gakushu says, putting the jacket on to cover the worst of the wounds. 

Even to Gakushu, he didn't sound quite himself. He would think he was dreaming if he wasn't in pain.

Karma is absolutely relieved that Gakushu is okay, and does his best to move quickly to the entrance. The sight he is greeted with is a very bloody Gakushu, covered in scrapes, cuts and bruises, silhouetted against the moonlight. One of the moths land, crawling on his head, almost trying to lesson the terror of this sight. Karma felt suddenly dizzier than before, very sure they should stay put and wait for help. Before Karma could even get a word out, Gakushu grabs onto him with his less broken arm, helping him up. He even gives an honest try on sweeping Karma up into his arms, and has to try twice. 

Yes, Gakushu was in agony, but it was trivial compared to that feeling of triumph and relief he felt, and he was smiling as he asks, “...You know this place better than me. Do you know how... to get back to the trail from here…?” 

Karma, very terrified for Gakushu says, “I feel like I should carry you! Are you going to be okay? You’re bloodier than I am…” 

“It’s okay... I won the fight, there’s no need to worry…” Gakushu answers, “Just point me to our exit.”

Extremely unsurely, Karma gives the directions. He was so afraid for him, But between his leg and his own head injury throbbing pretty bad just from the stress of this situation, there wasn’t much he could do to fight this.

“Just be careful, understand?”

“Of course… don’t worry about a thing...”

…

Nagisa, as soon as he was at a stop close to the school, Hops off that bus and runs as fast as he can for the school grounds. He already called Karasuma and yelled at him to get his guys over there, and alerted the other E class of the possible situation unfolding, confirmed by ritsu who had been surveying the new cameras at the old E building. 

When he arrived, there was already a medical crew at the scene along with many government forces. Karma was getting his leg wound properly cared for on scene, but Gakushu was nowhere to be found.

“KARMA!” Nagisa calls out, running and basically tackle hugging him.

Karma easily grabs him with open arms. 

“Good to see you, Nagisa…” Karma says sweetly. He sounded tired.

“Oh my god, I’m so glad you’re okay! What happened to Gakushu, where is he? Please tell me he’s okay!” Nagisa asks him.

Karma gives the smaller boy a little squeeze as he replies, “Well, I wouldn’t be here without his help, that’s for sure. I’d probably be dead. After I got sucker stabbed, he hit the bastard over the head with a chair and ran off with me. We spent some quality time in a hole in the ground, and he ended up taking on Takaoka solo. He got him bad, and the crazy bastard pushed himself to bring down that beast and get me down the mountain. Long story short, he’s been rushed to the hospital.”

Nagisa is shocked. He doesn’t know if he’s proud, guilty, or angry. Probably a mix of the three with what Karma just told him. Of course, he gets teary-eyed over the whole thing. Karma does his best to comfort him, patting his shoulder and holding him close. 

“You know, if you want to see the damage yourself, and maybe make sure ‘Shu really did it right, you could follow the coordinates he gave. I wouldn’t blame you if you wanted to make sure loose ends were tied.” Karma says.

He hands off Gakushu’s original knife to Nagisa, and Nagisa quietly slips it into his pocket.

“Alright. Thanks, Karma. Let’s go visit him as soon as possible.” Nagisa says.

“Yeah, and tell his pals what happened, too. But after you get back, I need to have a chat with you about some stuff.” Karma says. 

Nagisa nods, “Okay. I’ll see you in a few minutes.”

With this, Nagisa disappears into the mountain’s forest, unnoticed by most people there, even stealing a flashlight off one of the personnel. He skipped over talking to Karasuma; he was still upset with him, even if he meant well. After some time, Nagisa only needed to follow a trail of blood to arrive at the scene. There Takaoka lied, just barely clinging to his life as he lied there, covered in gashes and a particularly large wound on his head. Variants of moths flew around the area, landing, adding a strange intenseness to the sight before him.

But Nagisa puts on his best smile, and walks over slowly.

“Good to see you, Mr. Takaoka. My, it seems you really messed up this time.” Nagisa greets sweetly.

Takaoka’s eyes snap over to him, and Nagisa can’t help but smile as he struggled to get up, or even speak.

“Wow, Gakushu really knew where he was bashing. He messed up your motor skills, didn’t he? I’m so glad to have a friend like him.” Nagisa says.

He walks circles around the dying monster, quietly observing. Moments pass slowly. Sounds and calls from creatures of the night are the only other sounds. 

“You know, you could’ve let your grudge against a child go. But you really are as bullheaded and stupid as they come. I’m glad fate took care of you this time around. But I must admit, it makes me upset you managed to hurt two people so dear to me.” Nagisa says.

He twirls the blade in his hand, and takes aim as he stands just out of reach. A snake raising its head, poised to strike.

“I think I’m done giving people like you chances to be better. You’ve really proven yourself to be an irredeemable piece of shit in every sense of the word. So, that said, with the damage my friends dealt, it’s almost too merciful to stab you through the heart just yet. You deserve much more suffering, Takaoka.”   


There’s genuine fear in Takaoka’s eyes, and his bitter tears begin to fall.

Nagisa smiles widely, signaling those fangs about to close on their target a final time.

“But you know what? It’s for my own peace of mind, at this point.”

The snake delivers a final, deadly bite.

“Goodnight. Sleep tight in the fires of hell.”


	8. Aftermath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> now that the monster is dead, and Gakushu's feelings have been fully recognized, things begin to wind down... now, who wants to go on a hospital trip?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> final chapter! thank you so much for reading this. it was my pleasure to write ^^
> 
> also, there are some little open odds and ends I planted here, for some sort of sequal-ish thing involving an oc i have no visual on, but I don't think I'll be putting that into action anytime soon. either way, I hope the ending gives you some soft, fuzzy feelings inside ^w^

As soon as Ren got a call from Karma about what happened, he spread the news to the remainder of his close friends, rallying them to get up, dressed and be on their way to the hospital Gakushu was being treated in. He really did wish that Karma was joking, but with how he called from Gakushu’s phone, and even got a quick testament from an equally serious Nagisa, he knew it wasn’t a lie. 

Of all the things Gakushu could do, having a knife fight with a killer was one of the scariest possible things! 

God, he didn’t know if it freaked him out more that Gakushu got horribly injured, or that he actually beat the killer in defense of Karma and himself. 

Ren decided he was proudly terrified. With enough time spent thinking on this as he does his hair, he gets the rest of himself ready and hurries out to his car, texting the big 5 chat to see if anybody needed a ride. He ends up picking up Tomoya and Teppei, and Natsuhiko insisted he was within walking distance and needed more time to get ready. The three make a pitstop at a convenience store for some little get-well gifts, cards, and comfort foods for themselves and Gakushu when they’re allowed to see him. Then after that, they arrive at the hospital and are directed to the waiting room. The others present were Nagisa, Karasuma, and Irina. 

“Hey guys, glad you could make it.” Nagisa greets them, “Karma’s getting some treatment himself, if you’re wondering. He should be let out in a couple minutes, or so they say.” 

“Ah, okay. Glad nobody got killed…” Ren says.

“Same here. I’m glad our friends made it out.” Nagisa says.

“Yeah… so… what was it like when you got there? Do you know anything about how Asano is doing?” Ren asks.

“Well, I heard something about broken ribs, and a broken wrist… Karma told me there was a lot of blood, too.” Nagisa answers.

“Oh dear… well, I hope whatever hurts him heals fast.” Ren replies.

“Yeah… same here. By the way, there’s a few things I need to ask you about. Do you mind?” Nagisa asks, putting on a somewhat serious face.

“Oh, uh… sure. What do you need?” Ren asks. 

He stands up, assuming that Nagisa would like to talk away from the others. His two currently present pals quietly wish him luck. Nagisa stands up as well, and leads Ren over to a quieter hallway.

“So…” Nagisa begins, his serious expression suddenly becoming a bit sheepish, “This may not be the time to ask, but… how long has Gakushu had feelings for Karma?”

“Oh.  _ Oh. _ ” Ren says, taking a moment to think, “ A long while… I guess… how did you find out? You’re not mad, are you?” 

“I’m not, don’t worry! I understand his reasoning. According to Karma, he basically confessed before assassinating the enemy. He probably thought he was sacrificing himself. Isn’t that romantic?” Nagisa says.

“Oh, wow… it definitely sounds like him to pull off something so… theatrical. I gotta say, I’m really worried about him… what do you plan to do about the whole crushing on the same guy thing?” Ren asks. Wait, assassinating? And how is that romantic? It was terrifying to him!!!

“Well, I’ve been talking out a plan with Karma on how to go about this. If it all goes over smoothly, things should be fine. And that’s where some crucial information from you comes in, as one of his good friends. You’re my best bet to get some facts straight. Are you willing to help?” Nagisa explains.

“Yeah, sure…” Ren responds.

After some time, and some questions answered, Ren walks back over to the waiting room to sit with his other friends, and Nagisa walks out to do some quick shopping. The two adults in the waiting room were having a whisper-shout match on who should let the ex-principal know just how his son ended up in the hospital, if he ends up coming around.

“What did he ask you?” Teppei asks quietly as Ren sat beside him. 

“Oh, just some stuff about what Gakushu likes. That’s all… I’ve got no clue what he’s planning.” Ren says.

“Geez. that guy’s such a mystery…” Teppei mutters.

“Well, who do you think is gonna show next? Asano’s dad, Natsuhiko finally? Maybe Karma will be let out first before either of those guys decide to show?” Tomoya asks. 

“Natsuhiko better show. I almost don’t want the ol’ ex principal to come around. I’m not sure if any of us are equipped to deal with… whatever reaction he may have. I hope Karma’s alright, too.” Ren answers tiredly.

As if on cue, Karma walks out of the hospital doors and into the waiting area. Thanks to Nagisa, he had some fresh, non-bloody and non-ruined clothes on. 

“Hello everyone~ I’ve been given pain medicine and stitches. I feel pretty alright. Where’s Nagisa?” Karma asks. 

“Went to get some things. Do you know anything about Asano’s condition?” Ren asks.

“Gakushu is still in a bad state, but he’s not gonna die. They’ve got him on the good stuff, so he won’t be feeling the pain of anything they’ve gotta do to fix him.”

“That’s a relief. So uh…” Ren says, leaning in and whispering, “What’s the big plan you and Nagisa have? I’m kinda curious…” 

Karma grins, and takes a phone out of his pocket. It appears to be brand-new, with a see-through phone case that has red sparkles floating in liquid. “Thanks to some certain people owing me, I’ve got a new phone already~ I’ll text you the details.”

“Alright…” Ren says, taking out his own phone as he watches Karma text. He decides to send a quick, “Get over here!!” text to Natsuhiko before checking out Karma’s Messages.

Karma: so this phone?

Karma: as things were being wrapped up with the enemy Nagisa decided to pickpocket him 

Karma: he had sooo much money

Karma: so since that asshole broke my phone after his bait failed Nagisa and I felt the mutual need to get my data transferred to a shiny brand new phone with the cash he had on him

Karma: he owed me. I cashed in the owing. Thats that on that

Ren: So you just. Stole from a murderer? Fearlessly?

Karma: Correction: Nagisa looted his pockets for my benefit cuz he loves me :)

Ren: fair. Better hope he doesn’t ever get out again....

Karma: Trust me. He’s not getting out of where he’s headed.

Karma: Let’s stop talking about it now! Wanna hear the plan?

Ren: of course. Are you going to… let him down gently?

Karma: lol you really think It’s like that?

Ren: ???

Ren: but don’t you 

Ren: uh

Ren: you and nagisa?

Karma: I have two hands bro <3

Karma: and in this case, Nagisa and I will each be grabbing a hand of Gakushu’s. Give him some really heartfelt gifts~ and you know i’m gonna give him back what he dealt out. That’s how my namesake works!

Ren: omg! You have no idea how happy and relieved this makes me!

Ren: and Nagisa is good on this plan?

Karma: Oh please i asked him a crap ton of times in person and in text and all times he’s like. As 100% as i am

Karma: he even helped come up with the plans!

Karma: Operation “Smooch Gakushu On His Stupid Fuckin Face” here we go.

Ren: that’s. Actually adorable

Ren: I hope everything goes well with your operation!   


Karma: so long as there’s nothing medical that happens to delay the plans, everything should go well. Thanks~

Then, at around this time, Natsuhiko finally arrives through those doors.

It’s not that late, but he is still in home-wear, obviously unchanged.

He hasn’t brought anything but a mug the other boys have seen him use before. A hilariously bad sailor moon bootleg mug. 

His hair is a mess.

His glasses??? Have a fog???

Everyone is a bit discomforted,

But none quite as floored and visibly angry as Ren is at his disarray.

“Hayy guys.” He says, “What’s the news?”

He sits down in the free seat next to teppei, not making eye contact. Specifically ignoring Ren’s burning gaze. Karma glances between the two and smiles evilly. Oh, he knows Ren is gonna snap. He’s all for it.

“Natsu.” Ren says simply.

“Eh?” He responds.

“Did you brush your hair before you came out?”

“Why does that matter?”

“Answer my question.” 

“...I didn’t.”   


“Well, did you shower?”

“...”

“Change your clothes?”

“Why does it matter??? I’m here!”

“Brush. Your. teeth?”

Natsuhiko laughs, and smiles nervously. Ren can see the answer. His other friends feel the fierceness of Ren’s gaze, and know that Natsuhiko may end up beaten up, or worse.

“Well there’s nothing I can do about it now!!!” Natsuhiko protests.

“Of course. There’s never anything you can do about it, because you don’t seem to know how to do it.  _ Ever.  _ But now, I’m gonna teach you.” Ren says, trying to sound positive. But his anger was undeniably leaking through that smile he had.

“Hey now I don’t need that!!” Natsuhiko says.

“Teppei. Tomoya.” He tosses them his keys and says, “I have a little emergency bag in the trunk. Grab it.  **_Now._ ** ” 

“Y-yes sir!” they reply, and scramble out, not wanting to be near this.

Karma begins to record, knowing that Gakushu would probably not want to miss out on Ren snapping. Ren approaches Natsuhiko, who keeps trying to sputter out some excuse or distraction. 

“S-seriously i don’t need this-”   


“Of course you do!”

“I’ll do it myself!” 

“No you won’t.” 

“Karma’s literally recording us-”

“I don’t care.”

“Seriously?!”

“It’s your shame on record.”   


“That’s harsh!”

“So is YOUR BREATH NOW GET OVER HERE!!”

Ren is too fast for Natsuhiko to avoid. Nobody stops Ren, either. At first, he grabs Natsuhiko by the hair, an easy way to restrain a wimp - but what happens next only further seals Natsuhiko’s fate. Grabbing his hair made an audible  _ Squelch _ sound. Karma feels the tension in the air spike a few degrees. 

“Mr. Karasuma, is it?” Ren says, his eye twitching badly, “Do you happen to have handcuffs on you? You seem like the type.”

Karma didn’t think he would, but surprisingly, Irina tossed a pair she had to Ren, along with the key. “Go nuts, Kid.” She says.

“Thank you, Miss.” Ren says, forcing a yelling Natsuhiko to the ground and handcuffing him.

Teppei and Tomoya return with the bag. Nobody tries to stop Ren as he thanks them, takes the bag, and Drags Natsuhiko into the bathroom down the hall. Natsuhiko’s screams are heard the entire way. Ren can be heard yelling at him that maybe, if he took care of his body, this wouldn’t be happening. 

“Theeere they go.” Karma sighs, casually ending his recording there. “How do you guys feel about this situation?”

“The Asano one or the Ren one?” Tomoya asks.   
  
“Both, I guess.” Karma says.

“Terrified.” Teppei answers, to which Tomoya nods along in agreement.

“That’s fair. Do you think Natsuhiko’s grime can be erased?” Karma asked.

The two look at eachother. Whisper to each other. Then Teppei responds, “Eh, maybe not…?”

“Hoo boy. I wonder who’s gonna come out on top in that battle in there…” Karma says with a smile, humming a bit. 

They hear an argument from inside that distant bathroom for several minutes - from the topic of facial care, hair care, then some sort of bigger screaming match. Nagisa comes back about half way through that.

“Hey guys! Um…” Nagisa motions to the yelling down the hall, “Should I be worried?” 

“Not at all~” Karma replies.

“Alright.” Nagisa says with a smile.

He goes back to his seat next to Karma, showing him what gifts he brought. Casual conversation goes on, and by the sounds of it, either Natsuhiko gave up trying to escape Ren’s attack, or everyone just blocked it out. Karasuma is finally pushed to give the ex-principal a call, and this begins to bring things back down to a normal atmosphere. 

“Yeah… alright. You’re welcome. Goodnight.” Karasuma spoke into the phone before finally hanging up. 

“So, what’s he gonna do?” Karma asks.

“He asked about who was here for Gakushu, and promptly decided to wait until conditions are either improved upon or worsened. If Gakushu is in stable condition by tonight, he will visit in the morning. If his condition worsens, he will make his visit as soon as possible to… help the operation along.” Karasuma reports. 

“God, what can’t that man do…?” Irina asks.

“Have normal emotional responses to dire situations involving his son.” Nagisa mutters.

“Indeed. He’s also calling the hospital to check in as we speak.” Karasuma says. 

“Is he really serious? What the hell could be so important that he’s not coming to see his flesh and blood immediately?” Karma says.

“I’ll tell ya what it is. He doesn’t want to feel over it, so he’d rather not come at all unless the kid’s life is in direct peril.” Irina replies.

“It still doesn’t excuse it.” Nagisa says.

“Tell me about it. Certain people are desperate not to feel like the one at fault, so they’ll ignore it at all costs as long as it isn’t killing the person.” Irina says. 

There is a bit of a silence.

“Is there something you wanna elaborate on?” Nagisa asks.

“Nope.” Irina says, promptly getting up and going outside.

As soon as she leaves, Karasuma was about to say something to the extent of, “She’s been going through things”, when Ren Loudly exits the bathroom, dragging a defeated Natsuhiko down the hall. All are interested in what has become of the pair.

“Gentlemen, I present to you, the good of what my emergency kit can provide. Gaze upon what was once an ornery cave troll!!” Ren announces proudly, then tossing Natsuhiko in front of him.

His hair was clean, shiny even. Every spot afflicted by acne was painstakingly cared for and the aftermath covered up with foundation, and little extra hairs plucked away. His clothes were replaced with a spare school outfit of Ren’s from the emergency kit, and his teeth, though still not straight, were thoroughly clean. And not to mention his glasses were cleaned and shiny too. Every detail was meticulously polished up. He smelt like good deodorant.

But by the face he made, he looks like a cat that had gotten an unwanted bath.

“Holy shit…” Teppei says.

“He looks actually good?!” Tomoya exclaims.

Ren nods. “He certainly does! And he knows what will happen if his self care falls to uncleanliness again. Riiiiiight?” 

“Yeah i get it!! Now take the handcuffs off!” Natsuhiko protests.

“Fine, fine. So long as we’ve reached an understanding.” Ren says.

Nagisa and Karma giggle to themselves as they watch what was unfolding.

“I didn’t expect him to clean up so nicely.” Karma says.

“It seems like Ren really does run the show when Gakushu can’t.” Nagisa replies.

After this, everyone just sits and chats until further notice.

…

Irina sat outside in the cool night air, guiltily lighting a cigarette. She had promised Karasuma she would quit, but as anyone would know, it was a rough road to doing so. She wasn’t quite proud of needing one at the moment, but she had a lot on her mind. 

She really had meant to be a little more there for the kid she brought into the madness. She didn’t know a thing about Gakushu Asano, and that seemed to be the biggest issue in her failure to help him out, or at the very least stop him from getting so tangled in this situation. And now, she had a lot of people to make it up to.

But at the very least, she could say she was there. She could say she cared more than a certain person that really, really should, according to the others.

She sighs to herself, and pulls out the apology gift. It was a handwritten apology, with a little I.O.U. inside, good for one use. It was the best she could offer for some kid she knew nothing about, and had money to spare. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t exactly the best thing ever. If only there was something more she could do…

Just then, her phone goes off. She’s received a text from one of her old students.

Ritsu: Greetings, ms. Irina!

Ritsu: how are you tonight? ^u^

Irina: Meh. that’s how I’m doing -_-

Irina: Is something wrong, or did you miss talking to me?

Ritsu: Well I always miss people eventually! That’s why I keep in touch!

Ritsu: But also yes, there is a bit of a development. Do you remember how there was a bomb in Nagisa’s desk, but no evidence of a person? Not even skin cells? 

Ritsu: [Asano_Project_.zip]

Ritsu: I also made contact with the subject of the above files, and am keeping in contact with them, just keeping a careful eye in general. So far, they don’t seem too dangerous, but they’re quite vague in intentions to say the least =(

Irina: OH lordy another fucking rabbit hole to hop into

Irina: thanks for this, Ritsu. Did you send this to Karasuma, too?

Ritsu: I mean

Ritsu: I know that that’s probably the best thing to do rn

Ritsu: but they made me promise not to send it to anybody scary and they know about Karasuma and consider him to be the Scariest Thing =(

Ritsu: considering their capabilities are unclear, i wouldn’t risk lying >n<

Irina: Well we know they’ll help takaoka set a bomb up

Ritsu: Yyyeah

Ritsu: but just read that and let me gather some more data, okay? I think Karasuma would also appreciate having all facts. I’ll keep you updated, promise!

Irina: Pinky promise?

Ritsu: always!!

Irina: Good kid. Now go get that data!

With this new problem arisen, Irina clicks on the file full of information. By the title of it, she could readily tell that the ex-principal had some extreme explaining to do. She reads through the notes carefully, interest piqued. She quickly finds herself disgusted and worried by the end of the files.

God, she hopes that Ritsu’s talk with them is going well.

Irina: Let me know if I can help the kid. I’m going to ask Nagisa where to find shitass later so I can personally strangle him. I feel stabby about Gakuho too for his crimes but i don’t wanna get murdered.

…

Slowly but surely, Gakushu began to regain consciousness. His body felt heavy, but he didn’t feel much pain. The air felt calm, and he felt a cozy blanket draped over him. It was hard to remember what happened last, but he at least knew where he was. He felt like he could drift back to sleep at any moment. He would’ve let himself if he didn’t feel the presence of others nearby. As he struggles to open his eyes, he hears small whispers pointing out that he was awake. 

When he opens his eyes, he’s greeted with the sight of Nagisa and Karma, on opposite sides of the bed, smiling at him and definitely hiding things behind their backs. Instantly, he wonders if this is going to be a bad joke or something nice. No, it's something nice; it has to be, because he knows Nagisa won’t be rude. Unless that’s part of the facade. Good lord, was he always so suspicious of people?

“Goodmorning, Gakushu~” Karma coos.

“How are you feeling?” Nagisa asks.

“Exhausted… how long was I out? What… exactly happened?” Gakushu asks.

“You were in and out throughout the night. It’s going to be a while before you’re healed completely, but nothing’s permanently damaged. You’ll only have a few scars.” Nagisa says.

“That jackass hit you pretty hard, didn’t he? You really don’t remember smashing takaoka’s head in with a rock?” Karma asks.

“It’s all kind of fuzzy, honestly…” Gakushu replied tiredly, doing his best to think of what happened.

“That’s too bad, really… well, maybe this could jog your memory~?” Karma asks.

Before Gakushu could ask what Karma was up to, both boys leaned in close, causing the words to get stuck in his throat. He would’ve put his hands up defensively, but his motor skills weren’t at their best for the moment. 

The next thing he knows, he’s been given two kisses; one on each cheek, from one boy each.

It felt like time stopped. His heart skipped a beat.

Was this real? Did that just happen? Is he still dreaming?

It wasn’t a dream. He could feel his face start burning from his blush, his heart suddenly remembering it’s supposed to be beating and then pounding against his chest. A vague memory of kissing karma on the lips resurfacing. This was really happening…!

After a few moments more, Karma and Nagisa moved back, then presented the gifts they had. Nagisa’s was a white horse with a light green mane, sitting in a little basket of Gakushu’s favorite chocolates, accompanied by a little card that said, “Get well soon!”, while Karma’s gift was a fluffy plush bee, accompanied by some flowers and two bottles of Gakushu’s favorite kind of soda. He could only look between the boys and the heartfelt gifts in complete shock. 

When he woke up 5 minutes ago, he was expecting something more along the lines of scolding. More along the lines of anger. 

“Hm, I could’ve sworn that would jog something… oh well. The main point is that we both like you as a little bit more than a friend.” Karma says.

“I hope you don’t mind… but we thought this might cheer you up while you’re recovering!” Nagisa says.

But it seemed like the two boys before him were just happy that he made it. Or rather, happy just to be there with him. And they just told him they liked him...

Thus, the only response Gakushu’s tired brain is able to muster is tears. He wraps an arm around each, even if it hurt, and pulls them both closer. Both of the boys, after figuring out what he meant to do, hug him back.

“If this is a joke, I’ll hurt you…” Gakushu mutters softly.

“It’s not a joke! I promise.” Nagisa says.

“I wouldn’t lie about something like that, don’t worry. But saying it directly is a pretty tough one… I’m not sure how you even got it out the first time!” Karma says.

“Yeah. it’s nerve-wracking…” Nagisa says.

“Do you… need me to say it again?” Gakushu asks.

“I wouldn’t mind it.” Nagisa says. 

Gakushu then retreats from the hug, still holding their hands at least. He was teary-eyed, his face was red, and he was a bit of a mess, but his smile was as genuine as they come. It hurt his left wrist, but he gave both their hands a little squeeze as he gathered the courage to put what had been on his mind into proper words. It was a struggle still, but there was no way he’d be backing down now. His voice didn’t sound as clear as he wanted it to be, but it didn’t stop him.

“Nagisa… Karma…” Gakushu began, glancing between them, “Ever since you two stepped into my life, you’ve both contributed to making my life much brighter. From comforting words, to shared experiences, and genuinely good time spent together. Before I knew it, I… I really ended up falling for you guys. There’s no denying it. I love you… both of you. I want to make more memories with you guys… as a trio.” and after a pause, sitting in his feelings, he quickly adds, “I-I hope you both agree.” 

It’s now Nagisa and Karma’s turn to hug him. They’re careful not to hurt any of his broken spots.

“Of course we do! I-I love you guys too…” Nagisa says. 

“Of course you had to get all extra about it… but I guess that’s one of the things I love the best about you two - you can be expressive as hell if you want to be.” Karma says. 

With their feelings out in the open, and enemies out of commission, the three could finally rest. Gakushu, for once, let himself openly express his feelings. That day, the three spent hours just being close, talking, planning, and relaxing together. 

For once, the concept of “home” wasn’t dreadful. For once, the home that waited for him outside the hospital was one he could truly relax in. Karma assured him that much. The redhead took pride in detailing the cozy room he would be setting up for Gakushu, how Nagisa had helped in getting some of his comfort items to his house already, and how Gakushu would be making his recovery in a much more relaxed space, and there was no way he’d let anybody ruin that. 

The thought was unreal, but Nagisa assured him it was true.

He didn’t know if he even deserved so much, but Karma promised him he earned it.

After that, things felt pretty good. Even if his father never showed up, Gakushu barely gave it any thought. Two days of frequent visits later, he was allowed to leave. He had some pretty big casts on his left arm and right leg, with orders to keep in bed and take it easy to heal his bones, but it didn’t bother him. He could save the bother for a future, much more bored self. Right now, he felt as happy as could be as Karma wheeled him along, with Nagisa calling for someone to drive them to Karma’s house while carrying a huge bag of goodies from those who visited. 

“...Yeah. uh-huh. Thanks kayano! See you!” Nagisa replies, and then hangs up the phone. He turns to the others and says, “Kayano has us covered. She’ll be here in a couple minutes.”

“Great. So, should we wait inside, or get some fresh air?” Karma asks.

“God let me outside. I’ve been stuck in a stuffy hospital for days…” Gakushu says. 

“Outside it is, then!” Nagisa says with a smile.

They head outside, into the sunny weather. Karma almost drives Gakushu down the bumpy stairs, but Nagisa quickly grabs the handles of the chair and guides him to the wheelchair safe ramp before a disaster happens. They sit at a spot with a bench and a view of the road as they wait for their escort, and Gakushu takes the time to soak up some sun and relax. He chats for a while with his new boyfriends, reaching for a hand from each of them. Karma checks on the class group chat while Nagisa chats with Gakushu.

“It really is a nice day out… not too hot, nice and breezy…” Nagisa says.

“I couldn’t agree more. It feels amazing to sit in the sun again… it really helps distract from my pain, as does being with you two~” Gakushu says. 

“Aw, I’m glad I can help. By the way, can I just say one thing…?” Nagisa says.

“Sure. what is it?” Gakushu asks.

Suddenly, Nagisa’s expression turns very serious. The change is sudden enough to be extremely alarming to Gakushu.

“Never fight alone again. Okay?” Nagisa says.

Oh, right. Gakushu swallows the knot in his throat and says, “Of course.”

“Promise?” Nagisa asks.

“I promise.” Gakushu replies, doing a little motion with his good hand meant to convey his honesty. 

Nagisa’s expression lightens instantly, as if his tension from before never existed. “Good. Nobody can stop us if we work together, and it’s less of a risk of something like this happening again.” 

To spare them any awkward pauses, their ride finally pulls up. The window rolls down, and Kayano calls out, “Hey dorks! I brought Rio!”

And Rio calls out from the passenger seat, “DAMN you got fucked up!”

“A small price to pay for peace and victory.” Gakushu replies.

“Hi Kayano! Thanks for coming!” Nagisa calls back.

“No problem! Please place the patient in the back and get yourselves settled in!” Kayano says cheerily. 

They do as they’re told, carefully helping Gakushu into the car and everything before hopping in themselves. Once all is settled, off they go. The car is buzzing with conversation on events, between the boys and their adventures and the girls detailing their adventures in filming something together. They stop for milkshakes on the way to karma’s (Kayano’s treat and get-well gift), and before they know it, they’ve arrived at the destination. Karma carefully scoops Gakushu into his arms and Nagisa goes and grabs their temporary fix until a proper wheelchair rent Karma orders arrives: a reclinable gamer chair. 

“Is this really the best we can do?” Nagisa asks as he wheels the thing outside.

“The chair’s not coming until two days later, so yeah. I’ll be carrying Shuu up the stairs either way, so I don't see a problem.” Karma replies. 

“...I think I’d rather be carried than risk that.” Gakushu says.

“Okay… I’ll just ride it back inside then.” Nagisa mumbles.

“Aw, what loveable dorks…” Kayano sighs happily. 

“Oh, oh! Before you guys go, come here for a sec and hold out your hands!” Rio says.

“Why?” Gakushu asks.

“Just do it!” she retaliates.

Hesitantly the three do. Each is gifted a ring pop.

“Is this… candy?” Gakushu asks.

“Yep! You’re all engaged now!” Rio answers.

Her grin grows wide as the boys blush. Nagisa shyly thanks her, Karma mutters something, and Gakushu avoids all eye contact as he gives the joke candy a try. Cherry and blue razberry mix...

Kayano giggles and says, “Well! If you guys adorable dorks need anything else, just let us know! I’ll be busy as heck over the next few weeks, but I'll send whatever help I can give!” 

“Will do.” Karma says.

“Thanks again, Kayano!” Nagisa says, waving as the girls drive off.

After that, Gakushu is carried into the house and upstairs to his new room. It held all the comforts of his old room and lacked the stiffness the air in his old house usually carried. He immediately felt at home as he was carefully placed down on his soft bed.

“Well? How is it?” Nagisa asks.

“Absolutely wonderful.” Gakushu replies blissfully, letting himself sink into the sheets and relax against the pillows. 

“That’s good.” Karma smiles, and ruffles the boy’s hair as he says, “I made sure to give you some nice big windows in here, too. You’ll be takin’ it easy for at least a week in here, okay? Doc’s orders. I’ll take care of our classwork too to make the first bout of recovery a bit easier, then catch you up on what you missed before it’s time to go back. Sound good?” 

“Yeah. Awesome, actually…” Gakushu mumbles, “Could you make me food, too? I didn’t eat this morning…”

“Sure! It’s a great opportunity to give you a preference for my cooking, after all.” Karma says, grinning evilly.

“As if. You’re lucky I’m unable to compete right now… I’d win you both over in a heartbeat.” Gakushu retaliates, looking as confident as ever despite the injuries. 

“Sure, buddy.” Karma teases. “Welp, I’ll be back with some lunch. Sit tight~”

Once Karma has left, Nagisa smiles and says, “Wow, I’m glad he’s so excited to help you!”

“Yeah, I’m actually a bit shocked that he’s going so far. It’s a nice change of pace…” Gakushu replies. He reaches for Nagisa’s hand once again as he asks, “By the way… how long will you be staying in town? You must’ve left on such short notice…” 

Nagisa holds it gently as he answers, “I’ve been given clearance to stay for the rest of the week. A classmate has been sending me notes, and I think everyone’s eagerly awaiting a big story when I get back. But also… I’ve come to the realization that having to distance myself from you and Karma really sucks.” 

“I agree. Are you thinking of plans?” Gakushu asks.

“Of course. I’m gonna work hard enough to get into a school closer so I can stay with you guys, too. It’s gonna be rough and give me a bit more of a workload, but at least i won’t have to keep away from you two.” Nagisa answers. 

Gakushu smiles, and gives Nagisa’s hand a gentle squeeze. “Nice. I’ll be sure to help you accomplish it when I’m back in action. That is, if you wish to let me.” 

“Sure! That’s a big help.” Nagisa beams. 

“Excellent. I look forward to it… and I’ll let karma do the helping while I can’t.” Gakushu says.

“Sounds good to me.” Nagisa replies.

After a little while, Karma came back in with a few plates of food, and the three had lunch together while watching TV. they chatted and laughed together, and once all plates were cleared they stacked them on the nightstand by the bed and curled up together, one on each side of Gakushu, ever so careful of his injured spots. As they began to fall asleep, Gakushu couldn’t help but smile. It may only be for a short time, but it was times like these he couldn’t wait to have more of; No worries about classes or schedules, just a peaceful existence with his boyfriends.   
  


To him, Karma and Nagisa were more precious than anything else. Everything he had faced was worth it for the quiet, peaceful moments like this.


	9. Project__Asano.zip

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What exactly was in those files...?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for graphic things involving the dead. Shiro is not corteous to dead things....
> 
> Even so, i hope you enjoy the little bonus chapter! However angsty it is. After this, i mark this work as complete.

**X/X/XX**

**Experiment: Asano project**

**Overseer: Kotaro Yanagisawa**

**Assistant(s): N/A**

**A wealthy man by the name of Gakuho Asano had managed to contact me today. He knew a lot about the current Antimatter experiments unfolding in our care, and threatened to leak everything. From the Assassin in our care to the potentially world-ending antimatter experiments. Considering his affiliation with Kunigaoka, the school in which Ms. Yukimura works, I must assume he had managed to steal some items left with her. Though I don’t doubt the possibility of her recklessly chatting about it in whatever sort of lounge they have over there over coffee. Note to self: scientific papers are no place for smack talking the guilty party. I know i should just contact government officials and have him dealt with while I personally deal with Yukimura.**

**However, Mr. Asano’s request is quite intriguing; I’ve never thought of the possibility of reanimating a corpse via the use of antimatter. And yet, the thought of such a thing could be quite thrilling. Having such a trick up my sleeve would certainly leave more room for experiments to go awry. I could kill and reanimate that damned Reaper if it pisses me off again. I could kill and reanimate many things. It’s an amusing idea to be playing the role of a god, potentially.**

**However, I do believe Yukimura would heavily protest grave robbing, calling it things like “Immoral” or “Awful”. She doesn’t know anything. I’ll do fine without her. Though unfortunately, I’ll have to leave her to care for the Assassin more often. It’s not a loss by any means, I just hate its smug face.**

**The subject’s remains been secured, and good god do remains never cease to smell awful. Due to special requirements of Mr. Asano, I need to get another building built. Thank god he’s footing the bill. For now, I must continue to sterilize the body and prep it for modification. It’s name was Rikuto Ikeda, apparently. This man really acts like i can wave a magic antimatter wand and the corpse will just wake up how it was, huh? I doubt it will be so simple. In fact, it’s A foolish pipe dream. But still, let’s give this a try. I don’t know if he’ll still want the result, so unnamed it will stay for now.**

**__**

**X/X/XX**

**This is somehow more abysmal than it is to work with the reaper. When in contact with dead cells, the antimatter tends to just “eat” the flesh of the body, turning it into more antimatter sludge. Disgusting to watch, not to mention forced me to whip up a cancel as fast as possible out of some pellets meant for the assassin if it gets out of line. Subject now lacks an arm and 90% of the left leg. For once, I’m hating my job for the pure amount of disgust this is bringing me. Corpses are nasty.**

**I sincerely hope Ikeda’s ghost is tormenting Mr. Asano as much as the body is tormenting me. If ghosts even exist.**

**If worst comes to worst, I’ll have to take some living cells from Reaper to give the antimatter something to work with. Perhaps it will see those living ones and activate what needs to be activated. Or there will be an adverse reaction from that and the Antimatter will shut the cells off and continue to digest the corpse.**

**At least I found a new way to dispose of bodies today.**

**__**

**X/XX/XX**

**It seemed to work, but only to an extent. The cells in the left arm and hand have been restored, if anything receiving extremely off coloring. I added more live cells to the mix, and a test of adding some of my own seems to do the trick. So long as there is a bit of guidance that these cells provide, the Antimatter will know what it’s supposed to do. It’s a gruelling process, because if I take too many from the other projects Yukimura will get suspicious. She’s already begun to become defiant, no thanks to that Assassin.**

**She owes me for every moment she spends thinking about that Monster.**

**__**

**X/XX/XX**

**She let the monster get away and destroy the research facility, and even got herself killed in the process. I don’t know why i trusted her. She was such an Ignorant fool. And yet, for some reason, I still mourn over her.**

**But not all is lost. I still have subjects to play with. Days later, I picked up another boy off the streets. The anger in his heart will be useful to combat the monster. I’ve taken the liberty of adding his cells to the current project. It’s around this time that I remembered the limbs missing on the subject of this reanimation test subject.**

**I’m sure Mr. Asano will not object to me retrieving replacements. Hell, replacements for everything a bit too rotten to take the antimatter. He didn’t mind it when i needed cells. The pesky little sister of Yukimura’s might, but I’ve been doing my best to keep her occupied. Once she joins that class, I’ll retrieve Auguri’s body and take parts from it. This body needs limbs, and a semi-fresh heart and other organs, perhaps a better intact left eye. I’m sure the antimatter can freshen up what she donates.**

**Who knew she’d help me out after all? She has to; she’s the one that abandoned me. And in a way, it will make dealing with this body a bit easier. At least a good portion of its skin looks fresher, too.**

**The inner workings will be a hassle… but I think doing any less will not be satisfactory. I can’t afford to agonize over a woman when my reputation is on the line. This is my Frankenstien of parts, robotics, and antimatter.**

**__**

**X/X/XX**

**The body has taken the new parts nicely. With the help of Itona’s cells and that woman’s donations, the body is complete. Just a few more adjustments… maybe take some of Itona’s hair and fix bald spots by cloning it. With the help of antimatter, the body is healing at beyond exceptional rates. On all accounts, this is perfection… a body that can’t decay. Even the woman’s parts have been rejuvenated… I just have to buy some polish remover to get rid of the paint on her nails.**

**I’ve hooked the body up to some monitors, keeping track of how things look. Explosive propability is extremely low. It seems all I’m missing is a blood base. Blood, and a restart of the heart and brain.**

**I can’t help but be giddy. The only misfortune I had during this phase was the mistake of leaving the door open while I did the operation, and Itona walked in. I hope the sight was more than enough to ensure he doesn’t do any of that foolish exploring again. I can hear him vomiting in the bathroom down the hall. I thought about making him put back the woman’s body as punishment, but as of right now, I think that would destabilize him again. I’d rather not go through the ordeal of dealing with his tentacles. I’ll figure out something else, and simply incinerate the remains here. Maybe pour the ashes back in a coffin if I’m feeling nice.**

**__**

**XX/XX/XX**

**IT’S ALIVE. Who knew I’d ever get to say such a thing! The boy has opened his eyes. Not all the lights seem to be on so to speak, but he’s most certainly alive. It can talk, and even write, albeit abnormally. He looks like a normal boy. He’s got hair, eyes, and everything in the human package. It doesn’t quite look like who he’s supposed to be, but I mean, it’s a revived human that’s mostly him.**

**I presented it to Mr. Asano this morning. But alas, he didn’t quite appreciate my monster. In fact, I’ve never seen him so disturbed. I explained that with years of decay, i had to replace some parts that the antimatter couldn’t restore. Eventually, I convinced him not to jeopardize the mission, and now I’m stuck with a nameless, unwanted child. Like a second Itona, except the principal refuses to even enroll him. He doesn’t want to see it. He called it ugly to its face, how sad!**

**But I can’t blame him. It’s barely human anymore, much like that octopus. But in order to get use from it, I guess that I’ll make Itona spar with him for some extra training. Who knows if this thing can move like those tentacled beasts. But i guess it does need a name, in order not to confuse it with anything else.**

**Doll has a nice ring to it. That’s exactly what it is, a patchwork doll. With all the donors to his makeup, i wonder what last name he should take. Yukimura, Horibe, Asano, Ikeda…**

**Or should it take my last name? It’s mine now, after all. Decisions, decisions.**

**__**

**XX/XX/XX**

**Doll and Itona had a sparring match today. It appears that Doll is quite the abnormality; it not only can break itself down and reform, but it seems Doll can also turn invisible, though both feats aren’t able to be used at the same time. It cannot do this to other objects or people, only itself. Not only that, but Doll doesn’t seem to have the will to fight. It refused to hit back, even when Itona did, it seemed to just play with him like a child would, simply sneaking up on him and running around. Doll doesn’t seem to understand combat. Strangely enough, Itona did tire quicker than usual, but I assume that’s the fault of his recent modifications.**

**Currently, the two are being fed. Doll requires a great deal more food than regular humans do… it may be costly to keep the thing alive. I’ll see how the doll is with learning; perhaps it can become an apprentice of sorts, and take care of Itona’s tentacles so i don’t have to hire people. Though I don’t want another Yukimura situation… Itona already has enough troubles with being rebellious; it would be annoying to deal with two.**

**__**

**XX/XX/XX**

**Doll is abysmally difficult to teach. It’s not worth it. No matter what i try to show it, it gets distracted. I try to get it to listen, but it pushes my patience until I snap. I try to train it, but all it does is sit in high places and wait for Itona to be brought in to retrieve, and he won’t even punish it with the excuse of it being weak already. No matter what punishment i give it, it seems that it doesn’t understand why it’s getting punished no matter how many times I answer why. No matter what I’m doing to it.**

**I hate it. It knows that much at least.**

**__**

**XX/X/XX**

**Perhaps I underestimated Doll’s aptitude. It had the gall to feign ignorance and act weak. Now, Doll has escaped the lab, melted steel left in its wake. I sent Itona to recover it, but the stupid boy can’t even do that right. I’m almost convinced that Itona supported its escape to the surface, hell, maybe gave it ideas and let it go. Where else would it have gotten these ideals from? Unless the reaper’s apprentice had been getting in again without my knowledge.**

**For now, the Asano project has come to a close. I must punish Itona for letting him escape. Itona keeps telling me he doesn’t know where Doll is, but I can tell just by looking at him that he’s lying.**

**Perhaps the Assassin’s apprentice would be interested in giving finding Doll a try.**

**I hope Doll starves to death out there. But I know it’s incapable of dying, not unless it gets shot by one of those kids waving their anti-octopus guns. Perhaps i should submerge it in those bullets if it’s brought back.**

**__**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry for showing this concept to the public, it's rather graphic... but let me know if a story out of this is wanted! I'd be glad to Spin a tale about what "Doll" is up to now in a separate work. And of course how our ring pop engaged boys would handle it!
> 
> But as for right now, this is the end to the bonus. I hope you enjoyed it!


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